The Hamline Baseball team traveled to Tucson, Arizona, during their spring break. They went into their break hoping to further develop their skills and strengthen their teamwork for their upcoming conference games when they returned.
The Pipers started their break against Carthage College. The game stayed scoreless until the fifth inning, when sophomore Ryan Burley scored the first run of the game after being hit in by first-year Maddex Van Slooten. Carthage responded with a three-run home run, hit in the fifth inning, leaving the Pipers 1—4 going into the sixth inning.
The Pipers had matched Carthage, scoring four runs as well, with sophomore Bentley Casey and fifth-year Jack Rheineck getting two runs in both for the Pipers to retake the lead, 5—4. Further into the game, Carthage took the lead again in the eighth inning, where the Pipers had to respond by tying the game in the ninth, at 7—77.
Because of the tie in the ninth, they went into an extra inning, where Rheineck and junior Jacob Barmore had hit to help score three runs, getting the game to end 10—7.
The team continued their time in Arizona, losing three games over three days. The Pipers lost to Aurora University 2—15. The pipers had six hits, with a double by Van Slooten and a triple by senior Owen Giesen. Then, on Mar. 8, the Pipers lost 1—14. The Pipers had five hits during this game; however, it could not compare to Southwest Minnesota’s 12 hits. Then on Mar. 10, baseball played Wheaton Thunder, where they had a close game, only losing 0—1. Hamline had three singles, opposed to Wheaton having five hits, including a double, to secure the one run victory for the Thunder.
On the fifth game of their trip, the Pipers went into their game desperate for a win. The game started early with Burley stealing home, and with Van Slooten hitting a triple and scoring two runs, the Pipers started off the first inning 3—0. First-year Owen Hodson had an RBI and stole home to extend their lead to 5—0 in the second inning. The game began to heat up when Crown responded in the fifth inning, scoring four runs to tie the game 9–9. The Pipers did not let up on scoring and scored runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, making the lead 18-–9. The game ended with Crown scoring but not being able to come back, leading to the Pipers’ victory, 18—11.
The Pipers had two games on Mar. 13, where they had a rematch against Carthage College and Claremont-Mudd Scripps. The Pipers had won against Carthage 17—6 but lost 1—14 against Claremont. The Pipers had finished their break with another game against Wheaton, where they lost 4—15.
The Pipers took their time getting back to Minnesota, taking a bus from Arizona. However, the team bonding helped bring the team together. When speaking on his young team, Jim Weyandt was impressed with his team.
“With how young we are, facing the hard moments early in a season are very important so they can help us down the road in conference play,” Weyandt said.
With over twenty freshmen on the roster, the trip helped build chemistry and find the team’s footing going into their conference play. Conference began for baseball on Mar. 29, after losing their two games against Bethel, 2—3 and 1—6. Then on Mar. 30, the Pipers had their first win against Carleton. This win leaves the Pipers with a 1—3 record in conference, heading into their games against Augsburg University and Saint Mary’s University on April 7 and April 8, respectively.
