Union fell to the University of Tennessee at Martin April 11, 2016, with a final score of 10-3.
The Skyhawks earned a run on an RBI in the bottom of the second to take an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the fourth, freshman athletic training major Bailey Holbrook evened the score with a homer to left center.
The Skyhawks scored five more runs in the bottom of that inning and one more in the fifth, before freshman sports management major Hayden Lewis came up to bat at the top of the sixth, hitting a homer to center field that brought in two additional runs for the Bulldogs. However, the Skyhawks scored three more runs in the bottom of that inning to put the game out of reach.
While the outcome of the game wasn’t ideal, Zach Wylie, redshirt junior catcher and Christian studies major, pointed out the success of the two home run hitters.
“We did have two freshmen hit bombs,” Wylie said. “Hayden and Bailey will really be able to carry the lineup.”
Even though the recent loss at Martin won’t appear on their conference record, Union has struggled to walk away with a win for the past five weekend conference series. Now that they are over half-way through the season, they won’t be able to qualify for conference.
“There’s been somewhat of a deflation now that we’ve realized we’re not going to make the conference tournament,” said Brady Cook, sophomore business marketing major. “We’re still trying to prove we’re the kind of team that can be taken seriously.”
In spite of the disappointment accompanied with knowing they haven’t met one of their goals for this year, the Bulldogs are still motivated to work toward other goals both for this season and future seasons. Wylie and Cook said the team will do its best to finish the season strong for the sake of pride, the opportunity to play spoiler to other teams in the conference, and the chance to gain more experience, especially for the freshmen who show significant promise.
“For the remainder of the season, it’s about showing that we’ve made progress with the program,” Wylie said. “We are better than last year, without a doubt.”
Image courtesy of Cody Cunningham.
