Very soon, the weather is going to begin to change. The days will seem longer, the sun will seem to be warmer, and grass will grow at a much more rapid pace. The beginning of the baseball season runs parallel with the changing climate, just as the end of baseball season sees the weather move in the opposite direction. However, where the Shepherd University baseball team is currently playing is much warmer than it is in West Virginia.
Through their first two games of the season, the Rams have fallen to the University of South Carolina-Aiken Pacers twice, by scores of 3-1 and 13-1. In the first game, second baseman Chad Murphy paced the Rams by going two for three at the plate and scoring the team’s only run. Junior Kyle Porter recorded the run batted in by grounding out. Junior Paul Hvozdovic pitched six innings and recorded four strikeouts but took the loss for the Rams.
The second of the two team’s meetings went much more rough for Shepherd. Kyle Porter scored the Rams’ only run in the sixth inning. Bryan DiRosario hit a sacrifice fly to allow Porter to score. Designated hitter Ryan Messina went three-for-four on the day, while Porter added a pair of hits. Shepherd pitcher Josh McCauley tossed 4.1 innings of work while giving up eight earned runs. Josh Miller and Jj Loker hit home runs for the Pacers.
University of South Carolina-Aiken and Shepherd close out their game series after the time this article was published. After returning home for a few days, the baseball team will head back down to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to take on Davis & Elkins, Winston-Salem State, and Shippensburg. The first home baseball game will be March 2nd, when they take on Millersville at 1 P.M.