The Baker baseball team started off the 2018 season on a rough note losing the first nine games. The ‘Cats fell to University of St. Mary, William Woods University, Sterling College and Louisiana State University-Shreveport.

The Wildcats now stand at 3-12, with the highlight so far coming in the 3-1 series win over Waldorf University.

Baker won the first three games 10-5, 8-5 and 1-0. The ‘Cats almost got the sweep but fell in the final game of the series 10-9 in 10 innings.

Junior Will Edwards leads the Baker pitching staff with 18 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched. Junior David Tudhope has 14 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Edwards, Tudhope and senior Matt Stuart each earned the wins over Waldorf.

Baker batters have 112 hits, 17 doubles, five triples and five homeruns so far this season. In comparison, the Wildcats’ opponents have totaled 139 hits, 28 doubles, one triple and nine homeruns against Baker.

Junior Max Taulbee leads Baker in RBIs with nine followed by senior Kenny Delaquila with seven.

Sophomore Bailey Pattin has been a consistent force for Baker’s offensive production. So far, Pattin has scored 12 runs for the Wildcats, has 19 hits and four RBIs. Pattin also has a 0.365 batting average.

On Tuesday Baker hoped to carry its momentum over into its games against Northwestern College and University of Jamestown. Baker lost to Northwestern 7-1 and 6-3 against Jamestown.

The team had another nine-game losing streak last season in the middle of March.

The Wildcats will host Manhattan Christian College for a doubleheader Saturday at Sauder Field beginning at 1 p.m. On March 10 Baker will begin taking on Heart of America Athletic Conference opponents, starting with Clarke University.