Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) — Syracuse University is the only member of the Atlantic Coast Conference that does not field a scholarship baseball team, and is one of only two schools, along with Iowa State, in all of power five college athletics to not field a scholarship baseball team. While there may not be a scholarship team at SU, there is absolutely baseball being played. And the level of competition may be surprising to those that are not tuned in to the club baseball scene.
“All I knew was that it was really competitive,” said sophomore outfielder Jake Kleiman. “Friend of mine from home who’s a year older than me came here, who I always thought was a really good ballplayer and he didn’t make the team at try outs, and I remember him texting me when I decided to commit here, and he was like, you know, stay in shape.”
The team competes over the course of a split season, the first half in the fall, and the second in the spring, and that presents some challenges to the pitching staff.
“It’s hard to get out and throw and stay in shape but we try our best,” said junior pitcher Jackson Rover. “We try our best to get in here but this amount of space is pretty limited. But yeah, we just work back slowly coming into the spring.”
The first half of the season treated the Orange well, as they finished the fall half of the schedule 5-2 in league play, just 1.5 games back of conference leading Cortland. Of course, while everybody always wants to win, there’s also motivation to be found in the love of the game.
“I think it’s just a great balance of you know, being able to manage schoolwork, and still being able to be a part of a club team,” said sophomore pitcher Adam Park. “And I just enjoy playing baseball.”
The Orange resume their season against Albany.
