Dalhousie baseball hits the road

Heading into last weekend, the Dalhousie University baseball team had a league-leading record of 8-0. The team hit the road for a pair of doubleheaders on the weekend, taking on the Acadia University Axemen on Saturday and the University of New Brunswick Reds on Sunday.

The Tigers lost both games to Acadia and one game to UNB over the weekend, but Dal’s 10-6 win in their second match with UNB secured them first place in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball Association standings. 

Heading into the final weekend of regular-season play in the ACBA, Dal was three games ahead of the second-place Reds.

“We had a confident outlook this year,” said Tigers head coach Mike Konigshofer. “We thought we would continue our success, and we have.”

Dalhousie’s offence has dominated this September, racking up 127 runs in 12 games, 61 more than they’ve allowed. The Tigers are hitting a batting average of .388 as a team, led by Yasu Hojo’s .625 average in 32 at-bats.

Pitching from regular starters Kiwean Song and Jordan Rovet has also been dominant: Song only allowed seven earned runs in 21 innings pitched.

But the Tigers are taking nothing for granted.

“We got a fight on our hands this weekend,” Konigshofer said ahead of the matches. “Acadia is always scrappy. They have to win these two games [to qualify for the playoffs].”

But Acadia’s weekend wins against the Tigers weren’t enough to land them a top-three spot in the ACBA standings. UNB’s Sunday win against the Tigers shut the Axemen out of qualifying for the playoffs. 

St. Francis Xavier University is set to host the provincial championships from Oct. 10-12. The winner will advance to the national championships the following weekend.