Minutes after State College's 7-2 loss to Vermont last night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, hitting coach Sid Bream ordered all his position players to the weight room.
The message was simple.
"[Coach said] we just gotta go out, have fun and stay loose," catcher Mark Carver said. "Not put any extra pressure on ourselves hitting in the box. When you get in the box, forget about everything and have fun and swing the bat."
A meeting was necessary as the offensive woes for the Spikes continued. Last night against Vermont pitcher P.J. Dean, State College generated only one hit and and two walks against him in six innings. The loss for the Spikes was their sixth straight.
They didn't fare much better against reliever Kevin Light, who allowed one hit and two walks over three innings. The Spikes' only runs came on a two-base throwing error by third baseman Steven Souza.
"I didn't think [Dean] was that good," manager Brad Fischer said. "He threw some breaking balls over with two strikes and the guys swung and missed at that a lot. And he elevated the ball, I don't think he was trying to, but he threw some balls up in the zone that he swung at."
Last night was the sixth straight game scoring three runs or less since a 9-5 win over Auburn last week. The lack of offense quieted a crowd that seemed to be more excited to see who would win a free car. The free 1993 Ford Explorer, like the Spikes offense, had a problem -- the left brake light was burned out.
Even though the offensive struggles are mounting against the Spikes, Carver stressed the importance of relaxed at-bats.
"You can hit five, six-run homeruns," he said.
Third baseman Matt Payne, whose third inning double was the one of two Spikes hits, believes that the offense struggles are twofold -- the adjustment from aluminum to wood bats and players trying to work on "different things."
The loss pushes State College's losing streak to six, tying the longest in Spikes history.
