Assistant Coach Randy Ford said last Thursday that he wanted the baseball team to "play good, solid baseball" in its first three games of the season. And that's exactly what the team did in spliting two games against Old Dominion --winning 7-6 and losing 8-2 -- and defeating New York Tech, 11-4 in Norfolk, Va., over the weekend.

"I'm really happy to be off to a two-and-one start," Ford said yesterday. "I was pleased with our hitting, pitching and fielding. I was pleased with the six pitchers who pitched."

The Lions spent the preseason practicing in Holuba Hall and these games were their first chance to play outside. Despite the cold Virginia weather, Ford liked what he saw from all the players.

"It was nice being outside and the kids played with a lot of enthusiam," he said. "On Saturday, the players on the bench stood for the doubleheader. Nobody seemed to mind the cold, all they could think about was the game."

In the Lions loss to Old Dominion on Sunday, John Maggoire took the loss, as the Lion hitters managed only four hits against Monarch pitching. Centerfielder Kirk Rentschler had one hit and the only RBI for the Lions, the other run coming when Shawn Reese scored on an error.

Starting pitcher Tom Billek got the win on Saturday against Old Dominion, allowing four runs and four hits over six innings.

"They did exactly what we hoped they would do," Ford said of the weekend's pitchers. "They were able to get two pitches over the plate for strikes and made the opponents put the ball in play."

Dean Kerns went to the mound for the Lions against New York Tech. He allowed two hits and an unearned run over five innings, while taking advantage of a "30 mile per hour" wind that was blowing from left to right.

"Whenever you go to the mound, you look for things to your advantage," the senior righty said. "We tried to pitch inside to righthanders and away to lefthanders. We could let the righthanders hit the ball as hard as they want -- we knew it wouldn't be a homerun."

But the strong breeze which helped the Lion hurlers hindered their teammates at the plate. Ford estimated that Lion hitters had about four fly outs over the weekend that would have been homeruns if not for the wind.

"Our guys crushed the ball," he said. "(Sunday) we had some balls that were stung really well."