UNCP baseball coming off best Peach Belt
Conference season in team history

By Dan Kelly
Staff Writer

The 2005 Braves’ Men’s Baseball team is looking to make a significant improvement on last season’s 25-27 performance.

Head Coach Paul O’Neil believes that this season will certainly have a different outcome.

“We definitely had a better team than our overall record,” O’Neil said.

“There was a lot of misfortune with the amount of injuries we had.

Despite finishing sub-.500 last season, the Braves actually finished the highest it ever has in the Peach Belt Conference at seventh place. O’Neil expects the conference to be just as competitive as it was last season. The 2004 Peach Belt champion, North Florida, is ranked No. 4 nationally in NCAA Division II, and six other teams in the conference are ranked in the top 40. O’Neil expects to face a challenge every weekend but refuses to believe that his team should use that as an excuse not to consistently win.

The key for the Braves this season will be the play of the incoming senior class, which O’Neil believes to be vital.

“If you want to have a successful team, your upperclassmen have to play well,” he said. One of those seniors is right-handed pitcher Sandy Jacobs, who is taking over the duty as the starting reliever. O’Neil has great confidence in Jacobs’ experience, and his ability to throw strikes and play well in pressure situations.

Results from the team’s opener on Feb. 1 were unavailable at press time. The Braves will play at home on Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. and Feb. 6 at 1 p.m. against Anderson College.