The Colorado Buffaloes club baseball team walked into the series against the Colorado School of Mines with a 1-2 record and glaring need for improvements. It walked away on Sunday with a trio of wins and exciting enhancements on every side of the diamond.
In Game 1 of the Saturday doubleheader, Colorado came out of the gates hot with an eight-batter rally in the bottom of the first, plating four runs off RBIs from three different hitters. They put together another massive rally in the bottom of the fifth, needing six runs to force the ten-run mercy rule and completing just that. The Buffs took advantage of a handful of fielding errors by the Mines defense and ended the game with a throwing error at third that would give captain first baseman Andrew Garcia home plate.
In CU’s series last weekend against Air Force, the Buffs’ pitching was a headache, as they gave up a combined 31 runs in the three games, including a 16-spot in Game 2. Junior Matt Longstreet got the start in Game 1 against the School of Mines and threw an absolute gem, shutting out the Orediggers in four innings and only giving up one hit in the process.
“We made a big leap from last week against Air Force to this week, especially pitching,” right fielder and club vice president Nathan Hoffman mentioned.
After the 10-0 victory in Game 2, freshman Eoin Plunkett got the start on the rubber but only threw in the first inning after briefly closing out Game 1. Freshman Luke Livsey and sophomore Victor Moreno would chew the majority of Game 2, throwing a combined five innings of shut-out ball.
The Buffs went with an entirely new offensive regime in the doubleheader’s second game, only returning sophomore Finn Simones to the lineup, as they once again took advantage of defensive blunders by the Orediggers. Only two of the five runs scored that game were earned, with runs batted in from junior Thomas Klein and sophomore Cash Mardosz.
Hoffman came in the top of the seventh to close out the Game 2 win, only giving up a walk and hit but preserving the Buffs’ 5-0 victory.
The series finale was a three-and-a-half-hour marathon, resulting in 28 combined runs between the Buffs and Orediggers. Colorado’s pitching wasn’t nearly as flawless as Saturday, but the bats more than made up for it, recording 16 hits and plating a season-high 18 runs. Finn Simones, Victor Moreno, and junior Zach Andrews were the only three batters who stayed in the game for all nine innings, earning all of their at-bats with eight hits and six combined RBIs.
Sophomore Elon Schwartz shined in the bullpen in Game 3, shoving two innings and giving up zero hits along the way. Schwartz is the only Buff pitcher this season to have yet to give up a base hit, making a mound appearance in both series.
The Buffs completed the sweep with an 18-10 win in Game 3 and improved their fall ball record to 4-2, riding a four-game win streak into the Rocky Mountain Showdown.
The biggest storyline for this club baseball team thus far into the season is how there are zero coaches in the dugout. There is no manager and no hitting or pitching coaches, as senior club president Andrew Garcia and junior vice president Nathan Hoffman run the team. Garcia and Hoffman are either suited up and taking at-bats with the team, or in a Colorado baseball shirt and working as managers on the first and third base lines.
The pair have done an admirable job so far, giving the majority of at-bats to the team's best hitters. Five of the seven players that lead the team in plate appearances have over a 1.000 OPS.
Hoffman himself can be regarded as the team’s best hitter, with a 1.334 OPS and five base hits to his name this fall. Junior Rishi Nair leads the team in RBIs with seven, but it’s Finn Simones who largely leads the team in plate appearances, holding a .500 on-base percentage and a 1.143 OPS.
Matt Longstreet and Victor Moreno have done a tremendous job running the team’s bullpen, as both have yet to surrender a run this season. Longstreet leads the team in innings pitched with six, has only given up two hits, and leads the team with five strikeouts. Moreno can be marked as more dominant, however, with a lower WHIP and far fewer walks than Longstreet.
Nonetheless, there were great improvements from the Buffaloes in their three games against the Colorado School of Mines, with near-perfect fielding, sprinkling in acrobatic plays from junior Thomas Klein and Garcia. The hitters hit, and pitchers pitched, and the Buffs walked away with three wins.
“I was super happy to see our guys hit the ball around this weekend,” Garcia noted. “I think we played great defense, and most importantly our pitching staff responded great after last weekend.”
Colorado baseball gets a little break, as they have an extra week to prepare for a brief two-game series against Colorado State on October 19th. The doubleheader will be played at Scott Carpenter Park and begin at 11 am, streamed live on the Sko Buffs Sports YouTube channel.
“We need to do a better job limiting the free bases and make sure our defense is sharp,” Hoffman said leading up to the Rocky Mountain Showdown. “We know what our offense can do, but if we improve those aspects of our game, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
Cover photo by Aspen Doust/Sko Buffs Sports
Comments