Right now, things aren’t rainbows and sunshine for Ohio baseball.
Losers of 20 of their last 21 games, it could be easy for the Bobcats to let the negativity of losing overwhelm them during the final month of the season.
But maintaining positivity is something that’s important to the players, who are looking to salvage the season.
“In baseball, it’s so easy to reach rock bottom,” junior first baseman Jake Madsen said. “Just staying positive, no matter how hard it can be, is half the game in my opinion. If you stay positive, you have a good chance at being successful.”
Throughout the season, Smith has provided his team with anecdotes of other teams who were in similar situations and managed to climb out of a hole.
“Team’s go through funks like (ours),” Madsen said. “(On Tuesday), he was telling us about the (Los Angeles) Dodgers last year. The first half of the season, they were arguably the worst team in baseball and before you know it, in their last half of the season, they couldn’t be beat.”
That Dodgers team Smith referred to started out the season 30-42, but went on to go 42-8 in its next 50 games and won the National League West title.
Along with the anecdotes, Smith also reminds his players that most of them will be back next season.
“It’s a challenge on our guys,” Smith said. “It’s difficult for them to stay positive, but that’s what we’re trying to do. The one thing we’ve talked to them about is that we’re going have a lot of the same players back here next year and we’ve got to keep more of a big picture mindset.
“If we get overly negative about where we’re at right now, it may affect where we’re going down the road.”
This weekend, Ohio will attempt to end an eleven-game losing streak that stretches back to March 28, embarking on a series at Toledo.
Nearing the halfway point of the Mid-American Conference season, the Rockets are 6-7 with a team batting average of .244 that is third-worst in the MAC.
The Bobcats will be trotting out the normal rotation of freshmen Jake Roehn and Jake Rudnicki on Friday and Saturday, with sophomore Jake Miller making his second-consecutive start on Sunday.
Miller, who was taken out of the rotation because of his early season struggles, started last Sunday against Akron with the usual starter in sophomore Connor Sitz sidelined due to a shoulder injury suffered against Kent State on April 6.
He filled in admirably, allowing only two earned runs in six innings of work, and earned Smith’s praise.
“(Miller) threw very well for us, very much up to form,” Smith said. “His velocity was up, stuff was good, so he’ll remain in that Sunday slot for now.”
Smith hopes to work Sitz back into the fold with some low-leverage game situations this weekend.
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UP NEXT
What: Ohio (5-28, 1-11 MAC) at Toledo (13-21, 6-7 MAC)
Where: Mercy Field, Toledo
When: 3:05 p.m., Friday
1:05 p.m., Saturday
1:05 p.m., Sunday
