Erik Bakich will be the first to admit he isn’t a good loser.
But after his Terrapin baseball team was swept over the weekend at No. 22 Georgia Tech in its ACC-opening series, the Terps now have to deal with their first extended losing streak of the young 2011 season. And Bakich, naturally, isn’t happy about it.
“I think everybody’s pissed; nobody wants to lose. … I’ve never been a part of much losing in my life,” Bakich said. “I probably don’t handle it the best, but I don’t want to handle losing the best because I don’t want to lose much.”
So far this season, the Terps haven’t. Their three-game skid is the longest of the season, and a midweek two-game home series against Liberty that gets underway today offers an opportunity to put their lost weekend in Atlanta behind them.
With the Flames on tap, the Terps will go from facing one of the ACC’s best teams to a relative unknown from the Big South. But just because Liberty (8-8) isn’t an ACC powerhouse doesn’t mean the Terps (8-7) are overlooking it.
“They’re a good team. They beat the hell out of us last year at their place by a wide margin,” Bakich said, referencing the Terps’ 11-1 loss in Lynchburg, Va. “They’re one of those teams that can beat anybody on any given day. We’re going to have to play our best baseball.”
The Terps were undone by an anemic offense in Atlanta, managing only a combined 17 hits and five runs during the three-game set against the Yellow Jackets. And while the pitching struggled at times, the Terps think improvement at the plate will be key not only against Liberty this week but also all season long.
“I don’t even think it was the fact that [Georgia Tech] was pitching so well,” shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez said of the weekend’s offensive struggles. “I think it’s just the fact that we didn’t really capitalize on opportunities that we had. … I think our offense is capable of more than what it showed this weekend.”
While the offense has shown glimpses of its potential in big-inning explosions, Terp bats have on the whole struggled this season. The Terps’ mainstays atop the batting order — first baseman Tomo Delp, center fielder Korey Wacker and Rodriguez — are all hitting below .250 this season, and Bakich said he’ll continue to experiment with different lineup combinations in hopes of sparking some offense.
“It has nothing to do with mechanics, and it has nothing to do with drills,” Bakich said. “It’s just getting confident, getting comfortable. A lot of times, success and confidence go hand in hand. That’s all it is. It’s just some guys who are off to a slow start are going to get hot, a couple hits are going to fall that haven’t fallen, and then all of a sudden, it just seems like it explodes. They say hitting is contagious, and that’s kind of true.”
As discouraging as the sweep in Atlanta was for the Terps, Rodriguez thinks the losses could possibly pay dividends against Liberty and in the season long-term.
“Maybe it’s good,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a wake-up call for us that we need to get going, and we can learn from our mistakes. It’s better to go through this early on so we can move forward and be better.”
schneider@umdbk.com
