Coming off of an NCAA Division II National Championship, the Screaming Eagles’ baseball squad is underway once again with the start of the 2015 season.
The reigning champs started the season with a three-game series in Florida, against the University of Tampa, which the Eagles defeated in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year. Unfortunately, USI only took one from the Spartans at the end of its three-game contest in the Sunshine State.
When the team returned to Evansville, the players were off for eight straight games due to inclement weather.
The baseball team had a rocky start to the 2015 season. Making a name for the USI baseball program was no issue for the team last year, but the question remains: can they do it again?
Although the Screaming Eagles have won two NCAA Division II National Championships under Head Coach Tracy Archuleta, it is no certainty that the skipper has another championship left in him. As he stated himself, “Some coaches go their entire career without even playing in a National Championship, and I was fortunate enough to do it twice.”
USI lost some key players after its outstanding Championship season, but there is no reason for the team to struggle this year. The squad has picked up key recruits from around the region who will undoubtedly increase the team’s odds for success.
However, the team’s shaky start worries baseball fans.
Luckily, the Eagles had the opportunity to end the five-game losing streak, which they took advantage of with a series split against the University of Missouri – St. Louis.
Baseball is a game of ups and downs, so it is still too early to determine the ultimate outcome for the Eagles’s season.
I think the biggest issue is national championship. A team that achieves the most prestigious outcome a season has to offer is expected to be the best team the following season. Instead, the team went down to Florida and played a team that had been able to get outside and play a few more games than USI had, and a team that most definitely came out with a chip on its shoulder.
USI was ranked No. 1. Tampa was ranked No. 2. USI won the tournament last year. Tampa was upset in the first round by USI. Archuleta and the team were given a wake-up call in Florida that it did not answer until the recent win against UMSL.
With a lot of the season left to be played, the team has plenty of time to come back from its rough start.
Ted Williams, former Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer once said, “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and still be considered a good performer.” That is why the MLB plays 165 games. That is why contests in baseball are decided in the form of a series rather than single game competitions.
Baseball is a long, vigorous grind that requires a special breed of man to achieve success. Archuleta has shown us in the past that he is inherently one of this breed’s kind, but the season is underway and the margin for error thins with every game played. The team has proven itself in the past and I look forward to seeing the Eagles do it again during the 2015 season.