Eagles Baseball Enters Fall Season

Eagles baseball struck into their fall season on Friday, Sept. 23 with a scrimmage against Rose State. 

The fall season officially began at the end of August when practice began for the 2022-2023 campaign. This period consists of three scrimmages per player with full team practices and interquads in between to get ready for the spring. 

Fifth-year senior Jayvien Joseph spoke on the first scrimmage and what the team has shown early on. 

“Overall, we look pretty strong so far,” Joseph said. “We started out a bit slow on Friday, but settled in as the game went along.” 

Assistant coach Matt Conerly also spoke on the game. 

“We did not start how we wanted or expected, but we turned it around eventually,” Conerly said. “We are getting better, which is the important part.” 

The Eagles enter into this season with an experienced roster, featuring eight fifth-year players and even more upperclassmen. 

Junior Elijah Woods said the experience is a big advantage. 

“We have a lot of guys who have been around a while,” Woods said. “We know what to expect and how to carry ourselves throughout a season.” 

Woods also said this group of guys have known each other for a long time, creating a camaraderie between the team. 

“Some of these guys have been playing with each other for five years,” Woods said. “It shows on the field and how they interact with each other.” 

Oklahoma Christian ended last season with a 21-31 record, finishing seventh in the Lone Star Conference.They lost the first round of the conference tournament to West Texas A&M. 

“Last season did not go how we expected,” Joseph said. “We expected do a lot more with the talent we had.” 

The good thing is, we have a lot of that talent back.” 

With last season not going according to plans, the Eagles approach this fall season with clear minds. 

“We did not perform up to our standards with the talent we had last year,” Woods said. “But this is a new year, and you can feel it in practice.” 

Woods said the team put unneeded pressure on themselves last year. 

“We knew what we could have done last year and put a ton of pressure upon ourselves to achieve these things,” Woods said. “We need to be looser this year.” 

When all is said and done, Oklahoma Christian baseball plans to use this fall season to improve on what they learned last year and evaluate how they got better. 

“We got some new guys, especially transfers, who are going to help us,” Conerly said. “We just need to continue to get better and come together as the new guys become more acclimated; we should be just fine.”