By Mick Kowaleski ’14

Lafayette baseball is stuck in a rut.

From March 13 to the tail end of a March 24 double-header at Penn University, the Leopards (5-22 overall, 2-2 Patriot League) failed to tally a win.

Even then, Lafayette needed 10 innings to top the Quakers 8-6. But the victory snapped the Leopards’ eight-game losing streak—their longest since they started the year 0-7.

Since that win, Lafayette lost five of their next seven, but managed to split a four-game series against Lehigh.

Their most recent game, at home against La Salle for the Liberty Hill Classic, was a 6-2 loss. The Explorers (9-15) scored four runs in the fourth inning, and they could’ve stopped there. La Salle got some solid help from their pitching staff in their victory, holding the Leopards to two runs on the day. The Leopards, on the other hand, committed four errors in their defeat, the 22nd on the season.

Lafayette has been outscored by a total of 210-114. Their opponent’s batting average is a stellar .327, while Lafayette’s is .242 on the season thus far.

Leopard opponents have scored double-digit runs on seven of the team’s 22 losses, 16 of which have been by five runs or more.

The pitching staff isn’t faring much better. Their earned run average is a poor 6.92, while the other guys are tossing 3.85, more than a 3-point differential.

The Leopards are getting blown out.

Due to the two wins against Lehigh (14-12, 2-2), Lafayette is tied for third with the Mountain Hawks in the Patriot League standings. Navy (15-13, 3-1) and Holy Cross (11-14, 3-1) have a full-game lead over both squads. Army (8-14, 1-3) and Bucknell (6-20, 1-3), both lost their opening four-games series, but have better overall records than Lafayette.

The good news for the Leopards: there is plenty of time to gain ground in the League standings. They have an upcoming four-game series against Holy Cross in Easton, which is followed up by a single game at La Salle before returning to Metzgar Fields for a series against Army. They’ll then leave home for the better part of the season, returning only twice over a 13-game stretch.

Lafayette tries to patch up its season on Saturday against Holy Cross.