“The University of Akron’s baseball team was swept in a three game series over the weekend by Eastern Michigan. The sweep pinned Akron (15-18 2-9 MAC) in last place in the MAC East division. The only MAC wins came on March 27 in a double header with Western Michigan.”
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The University of Akron’s baseball team was swept in a three game series over the weekend by Eastern Michigan.

The sweep pinned Akron (15-18 2-9 MAC) in last place in the MAC East division.

The only MAC wins came on March 27 in a double header with Western Michigan.

There are a few problems facing the Zips as they approach the last half of the season.

Problem number one is pitching. It isn’t so much starting pitching as it is the pen.

Over the weekend, starting pitching held the team in the game.

When the bullpen came in, especially in game two, the game went away.

The pen gave up 10 runs in one inning during the match on Saturday.

Now the starter may have given up runs, but it is doubtful the starter would have allowed more than a few.

The bottom line is that a team needs to be able to get through middle relief. In college baseball pitchers play many roles, but they need to be good when they are starting, and when they come out in late inning situations.

Problem number two are fundamentals.

The Zips gave up six errors on the weekend. Now the field is not the greatest and the balls do bounce awkwardly at times, but there were instances where a player should have laid out for a ball instead of taking it on a hop.

The field is obviously a problem given that Eastern Michigan had six errors on Saturday alone, but they ended up sweeping the series and that is what matters most.

Problem number three is Brian Kordal. He was seen leaving the game with what looked like a finger injury on Saturday.

I don’t know how long he will be out, but Kordal has been a key part of the team’s offense and losing him would be a disadvantage.

On the bright side, hitting definitely isn’t a problem for the Zips because five players that started the series opener on Saturday were batting over .300.

Yes, in key situations the offense does not score, but for the most part, the offense is there.

Luckily for the Zips, a good portion of the season is remaining.

They probably won’t be anywhere near the top with Kent State or Ball State in the West, but they could definitely get out of the bottom.

There are two home games coming up against Malone University and Youngstown State. Maybe those two games will be what it takes to get the Zips back on track and back to the way that they started the season.

Akron probably won’t finish as favorably as they hoped, but at least they can maybe make a run to improve and swing some momentum into next year.

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