Last week began on a very positive note. We had won four straight, Sunday’s snow had given way to 75-degree temperatures, and we were looking forward to playing at one of the best college baseball environments in the country: Florida State. Unfortunately, we came out of the week with our worst result in two years.

On Wednesday we traveled to Davidson. They have a very cozy field and added lights this year to further enhance the atmosphere there. We scored in every inning of the game, which is one of the hardest feats to accomplish in baseball. We were finally able to manufacture runs by coming up with numerous two-out hits. Ben Ingold had four hits and five RBI despite being taunted constantly by the fans because of a couple errors he made. One fan had one of the wittiest comments of the year, screaming, "You can’t spell Ben without an E!" Needless to say, we all reminded Ben how to spell his name the whole bus ride home.

After Wednesday’s victory, we were confident and excited to head to Tallahassee. We lifted hard on Thursday before heading to the airport in the afternoon. Before we left, I was scrambling around the political science department to get into a class that I needed to graduate next fall. Every seminar that I needed was full, and I sent out a last resort e-mail right before we left. I spent most of my time in the airport trying to get a hold of the professor and left not knowing if I would be part of the class of 2003 or 2004. Luckily the professor had sympathy for me and let me in his course. Oh, the joys of school.

Friday night was a highly anticipated game. Kyle Sleeth was going for his 27th consecutive victory, and we were trying to win our first game in 10 years at Tallahassee. The Seminoles, on the other hand, were intent on breaking up Kyle’s streak and preventing us from winning on their home turf.

Almost 5,000 fans showed up to watch the game, nearly all of them wearing garnet and gold. They make it a great atmosphere to play a game in. It sounds more like a Brazilian soccer game than a college baseball game. They are constantly chanting and singing, on pitch nonetheless. They even make political statements in their cheering. Before this year they had always sung the Canadian National Anthem in the fifth inning, but since Canada has not supported the United State’s efforts in Iraq, they have started singing the British national anthem.

Unfortunately, we gave them a lot to cheer about during the game. We ended up losing 7-5, despite scoring three runs in the top of the ninth and getting the winning run to the plate.

On Saturday, we looked to rebound from the defeat. We scored two runs off their starter, Matt Lynch, in the first, but after that it looked like we were swinging at ping-pong balls with toothpicks. Tim Morley gave us a strong pitching effort, allowing only three runs in six innings. However, the Seminoles kept hitting the ball hard and scored four runs off our bullpen. Unlike us, it seemed like every time they needed a clutch hit they got it. We lost 7-2 and went back to our hotel looking for some karma.

Sunday’s game topped off a brutal weekend for us. We lost 10-7, but once again, the score looked closer than it was because we scored three runs in the top of the ninth. We out-hit them 11-10, but again, couldn’t get the big hits when we needed them most. It was only the third time that we have been swept since 1998 and all three times have been at Florida State.

Our record is now 20-10 overall and 6-5 in conference play. We have a game Wednesday against Davidson, then a huge series against red-hot N.C. State this weekend. It may be time to bring out the hair bleach and make a little karma for us.

Ryan Johnson

(photo courtesy of WFU Media Relations Office)