Baseball continues losing streak

After what began as a very promising start to this season for the baseball team, they have now lost an unbearable 14 of their last 16 games. This marks the first time under coach Brady's tenure that the team has unraveled so quickly.

This past weekend only added salt to the wound as the team lost four games in a row to conference rivals Northern Kentucky, a team which has never beaten the Rivermen in four straight until now.

In the opening game of the four-game weekend, Northern Kentucky got on the board early and often as they scored two runs in the third and one in the fifth for a quick 3-0 lead. After two more runs in the top of the sixth for the Norse, the Rivermen finally got on the board when Josh Morgan of the Rivermen had an RBI triple and Tom Anderson followed that effort with a home run to left field putting the score at 5-3 going into the seventh. Northern Kentucky would not succumb to the rally, as they would put up a rally of their own for three insurance runs in the top of the seventh for the 8-3 win.

Northern Kentucky struck quickly again in the second game, getting two runs in the first inning. The Rivermen managed to get one run in the second inning, and two runs in the bottom of the third that tied the game at 3-3 going into the fourth. Just as things seemed to look up for the Rivermen, Northern Kentucky broke that tie as quickly as the Rivermen had earned it with three runs in the top half of the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to take an 8-3 lead. Northern would give up two more runs to the Rivermen before they added one final run in the ninth to hand the Rivermen another disappointing loss 9-5.

Head Coach Jim Brady commented on the games. "This season has been a roller coaster for us all, we have never experienced anything quite like this before. We have played well at times but our inconsistencies have shot us in the foot every time," said Brady.

After two tough loses the Rivermen tried to come out and salvage the rest of the weekend series as they played two more the next day. In the first game Northern Kentucky got two quick runs again in the top of the first inning for the lead. In a hole, the Rivermen were able to cut that lead in half in the second inning on an RBI single by Josh Thomas to make it 2-1. The game would stay close until the fourth inning when Northern Kentucky added a single run to cushion their lead to 3-1, and then scored four runs in the sixth inning to hand the Rivermen a 7-1 loss.

A hopeful Rivermen squad came out in the second game and grabbed an early lead getting an RBI single from Tom Anderson that scored Colby Hughes for a 1-0 lead. Northern Kentucky would eventually tie the game up with a single run in the second inning and then took a 3-1 lead with single runs in the top of the fourth and top of the fifth innings. In the bottom of the fifth, infielder Josh Thomas got a one-out single and Josh Morgan blasted a two-run homer to left center that tied the game at 3-3 and got the Rivermen back into the game. Northern Kentucky would respond once again in the eighth inning, getting a home run of their own for three more runs and another lead. They then added a run in the ninth to hang on for a 7-3 win.

Head coach Jim Brady commented again on the weekend. "We are having a lot of trouble generating offense. Ever since we came back from using the aluminum bats in Florida early on in the season we have not been able to get the same results with the wooden bats. We just need to hopefully win a few to gain back some of the momentum that we have already lost," said Brady

The Rivermen are now 14-19 on the season and 6-16 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Rivermen will be at home again this week when they host Quincy for a doubleheader.