After coming off of a dominant season last year, in which they were able to capture their first OUA championship title since 2013, the men’s baseball team has opened up the 2019 campaign poised to repeat their success.
Through the first month of the season, the Golden Hawks currently hold a record of seven wins and two losses, including six straight wins over the past few weekends. The team’s start has been good enough to place the Hawks in a tie for the top spot in the provincial rankings with the University of Toronto.
During the current six-game win streak, Laurier has outscored their opponents by an impressive score of 53 to five, reaching double digit runs in three of the games.
At the helm of this successful start to the year is pitcher Christian Hauck, who was just recently named the OUA Peak Performer for the week ending Sept. 15.
Hauck, a fifth year veteran of the Laurier team, threw a complete game shutout against the University of Toronto to earn himself Peak Performer status. During the start, Hauck collected 15 of the game’s 21 outs via strike-outs, while only allowing one hit. He also became the only pitcher so far this season to hold Toronto to zero runs scored.
This is the second time that Hauck has been named the OUA’s Peak Performer, having received the honour previously in 2017.
Laurier has been able to succeed so far this year thanks to a great combination of contributions from both veteran players and new recruits, with 15 first year players being registered to the Golden Hawks roster, many of which make a regular impact on the field. This constant crop of new talent is a necessity in the OUA to ensure that your team can stay competitive year over year.
With five regular season games remaining, the Golden Hawks will look to continue the hot streak that they have been on leading into the OUA playoffs. If the team is able to keep up the current level that they are playing at, it will be hard to picture a scenario where Laurier isn’t competing for the OUA title once again come October.