The team’s run this season has been a study of extremes, with strings of losses followed up by rows of wins.

“Like in any sport, you’re going to have ups and downs,” Joshua Borges, management junior, said.

The team has had four stretches where they lost four or more games; on the other hand, they’ve had six-game and four-game winning streaks.

“It’s been a roller coaster ride. We have good talent; we’re just having trouble piecing together wins,” Andrew Laiche, business junior, said.

They went into a game against Nicholls State University, the only Division I team that they face this year, with a 10-23 record on March 26.

Despite the stiff competition the team won 5-3, signaling

“Beating a Division I team no doubt gave us extra spark going into the next games,” coach Gerald Cassard said.

The team took advantage of the momentum and completed a three-game sweep of Tougaloo University on March 28. These three wins came in dominant fashion, with scores of 14 – 0, 13 – 3 and 19 – 10.

Borges was the team’s main force in these victories. Against Nicholls State, he went two for three, scoring two runs and batting in two runs. He was able to carry this success into the three-game series against Tougaloo.

In those games Borges had 11 hits, scored seven runs, batted seven runners in and hit three home runs.

“His performance was a remarkable feat, no matter who you play,” Cassard said.

Laiche also played a major role in this latest series of wins. Laiche pitched the first game against Tougaloo, and in seven innings of work, Laiche didn’t allow a run on five hits. He also struck out 10 Tougaloo batters, giving him 22 against the team in two starts on the season.

“With Tougaloo we had the mindset like we know we’re going to win. It’s not like that with other teams. I think it would help us win if we go into the games with this mindset,” Laiche said.

Cassard said he’s satisfied with the ‘Pack’s performance.

“I think we’ve done all right, you know, we’re a small squad,” he said. “When you go in the weekends and match up against teams that have 28 to 30 guys, our window for error is very small, because we don’t have as many players.”

“To win consistently we need to play better defense, pitch better, and our bullpen has to perform,” Cassard said.

The ‘Pack are now looking ahead to the conference tournament, beginning April 29, but must rebound from a tough weekend stretch against Spring Hill, where they went 1-2. They lost both games by a combined six runs. They took the middle game of the series, 9-2.

“We’re playing better now, but in a conference tournament anything can happen,” Cassard said. “I like our chances, but we have to continue to play well and improve our defense.”

Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].