Seven innings pitched, five strikeouts, one earned run. On any other day, sophomore Carter Butland's performance surely would have guaranteed the baseball team a victory. But not this day, not against the now 15-0 Trinity Bantams. Despite Ben Higgins's '11 scoreless eighth, the Bantams would win 1-0, with the lone run coming off of a home run in the sixth inning.
Last Friday's 1-0 loss stung the Bears, but it hurt even more after they would be swept in the next day's doubleheader against the Bantams by scores of 4-2 and 5-0.
"We faced a real good pitcher in that first game. Our pitcher, Carter, did a great job. I feel like we kind of let that 1-0 loss stick with us a little bit and it carried over to the other games," infielder Matt Ruane '11 said.
After being held to just four hits on Friday, the Bears actually struck first in the top of the fourth inning in the first game of Saturday's twin-billing. Jason Koperniak '09 doubled in Joe Berte '09 and Kevin Zikaras '10 to give Bowdoin a 2-0 lead, but it would not prove to last long. In the bottom of the inning, Joe Pace '10 would surrender three runs to Trinity, and then one more in the fifth before Higgins would again come in for a scoreless inning and a third. But the Bears offense could not mount a comeback.
The last game of the series proceeded much like the first two, with continued offensive struggles for the Bears.
"Their kids pitched great. In order for us to keep getting better, we need to make adjustments faster," Head Coach Mike Connolly said.
When the Polar Bears did get hits, they came sporadically and the Bears could not get any runs across. The Bantams, on the other hand, spread five runs over the nine innings.
"I thought both teams pitched great and had great defense. They were clean games...and they were just one swing better than us three times," Connolly said.
Every conference game isn't must-win, "but we have to win most of them. If we go .500 from here on it's not going to get it done," he said.
This weekend, Bowdoin continues its Eastern NESCAC play against Colby (8-2). While the games were originally scheduled to be played in Maine, due to weather conditions they have been moved farther south to Tufts.
In anticipation of future series, however, the team was up at 7 a.m. on Thursday pouring black sand on the field to help speed up the melting process.
Connolly said the three losses to Trinity weren't going to change his approach in the series against Colby.
"Nothing really changes, we just have to swing better," he said.
Colby surprised many with an 8-2 trip to Arizona, though their schedule seemed to be weaker than Bowdoin's. Connolly did not seem ready to underestimate the Mules.
"Even some of the years when they're down they always play us tough," he said.