The Pitt-Johnstown men’s baseball team was defeated in a doubleheader against North Carolina-Pembroke, 6-1 and 13-7 on Feb. 6 at the start of their season.

The men came back two weeks later, gaining two wins against Indiana (Pa.) University (15-9) and Bloomsburg University (8-7). Taking their overall record to 2-3 this season.

According to senior infielder Sean Sleigh, the teams they have played so far this season have been tough, but they have also beat teams they feel were at the same competitive level as the Mountain Cats.

“I believe that, if we continue down this path, we will be a competitive team with postseason opportunities,” Sleigh said.

Sleigh said he knew the team would be a good hitting team, and he believes they have proved that thus far.

The team had four home runs against Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and one against Bloomsburg University so far.

“We have a few new pitchers and returning pitchers that have made great strides in performances that will allow us to succeed,” Sleigh said.

According to Sleigh, the number of errors that the Mountain Cats have per game needs to be their focus for improvement.

The team had a total of 59 errors last season.

“I believe that we need to keep our amount of errors in check,” Sleigh said.

Freshman catcher Dylan Conrad said he and his teammates know how tough things were last season.

The Mountain Cats had a 7-20-1 record last year.

“We have brought in new freshmen and transfers that help the team out in every aspect,” Conrad said.

According to Conrad, the Mountain Cats are putting in a lot of effort to improve their record this season.

“Returning players have put everything else aside and have worked their tails off for this year to be a great year for Pitt-Johnstown baseball,” Conrad said.

“We need to get better every day as a team and as individuals, so we will always be working on defense, pitching and hitting, and if we can put it all together, that is the key to success for us this year.”

Pitcher Jon Dicey, a transfer sophomore from St. Joseph’s College of Maine (Standish, Maine), said that based on all of the work the team has put in, they can only get better throughout the season.

“I think we just need to keep playing; it seems like we get better every game,” Dicey said.

The Mountain Cats are to continue their preseason games during spring break, in a doubleheader facing East Stroudsburg at Point Stadium in Johnstown on March 5, followed by another doubleheader on March 6.