More than any sport, baseball can be characterized as a marathon more than a sprint. It is a sport filled with clichés and idiosyncrasies that often times are unexplainable. In fact, even the most wise baseball fan will sometimes fail to explain a situation, instead saying, “Well that’s baseball.”

Thus far, the 2007 season has been characterized by its ups and downs, but more so lately by the injury bug. It’s been a hard season to really get a handle on because just when you think you might have things figured out, someone else goes down. Lately, we’ve talked about not letting adversity affect our attitude, in an effort to maintain our long-term focus and not be bogged down by short-term hurdles.

With that being said, the first two weeks, we saw our left-fielder and second baseman go down. With those two guys still out, we lost our leadoff in center fielder Chris Dove last week against App State. Just when we thought the bleeding had stopped, we lose our best hitter and All-American candidate Robert Rodebaugh the day of one of the biggest series of the year at The Citadel.

If anything can ease the pain of the injury bug, it’s the weather in Charleston, coupled with the atmosphere and playing surface at Joe Riley Park.

Game 1 featured a pitching duel from which the Phoenix emerged victorious 3-1, a good pick-me-up to start the weekend, which seemed to get off on the wrong foot. Saturday’s contest was an up-and-down affair, characterized by missed opportunities. On Sunday, we were able to capture the series behind a gritty performance by Will Romanowicz and some timely hitting.

For the first time this season, we seemed to handle and respond to some adversity. There were some opportunities to pack it in, but we didn’t. Maybe some of that can be attributed to time well spent together during Spring Break when every meal was eaten as a team, in addition to the time spent on the field. Whatever the case, the Phoenix look to bottle some of that momentum for the rest of the season.

The upcoming week will offer an unprecedented opportunity for our program. It marks the first time an SEC opponent and No. 1 ranked team has ever come to Elon’s Latham Park.

It will also be our second chance at knocking off the top-ranked team this season. There’s no better way to stop a rollercoaster than to beat the No. 1 team in the nation. Our home park has been very good to us over the last few years and if we are able to pull it off, we will have to call on some of that Latham magic.

Drew Davis

(photo courtesy of Elon Media Relations Office)