WINONA, Minn. — One percent.
It may not seem like much, but for Saint Mary’s University baseball coach Nick Winecke, one percent could very well be the difference between a run-of-the-mill 2010 season and a run for a conference playoff berth.
“Our motto this season is, ‘One Percent Better,’ ” explained Winecke, whose team kicks off the 2010 campaign on March 10 with a nonconference doulbleheader against Mayville State at the HHH Metrodome. “We are striving to improve by one percent every day.
“That may not seem like much, but when you’ve got 32 guys improving one percent, in reality, we’re improving 32 percent each day.”
And Saint Mary’s head coach is eager for his Cardinals to improve on a year ago, when SMU went 8-28 in Winecke’s first year at the helm.
“Last year was a learning experience for everyone,” said Winecke, whose team capped off its 2009 season with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over nationally ranked St. Thomas in its season finale. “I learned so much about what it takes to be a collegiate head coach, and everyone in the program learned what my expectations are of them.”
With a solid nucleus returning — spearheaded by starting shortstop
Kyle Ryan (St. Paul, Minn.) and reigning All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection
Zach Olberding (Maplewood, Minn.) — those expectations have been ramped up a bit.
“When you look at our roster, we’re actually an ‘old’ team,” said Winecke, who boasts nine seniors on his 32-man roster. “We return a lot of guys who saw a lot of playing time last year and, hopefully, that experience will pay big dividends this season.”
Last year was certainly a positive experience for Olberding, who closed out his sophomore season with a team-leading .394 batting average (39-for-99). He also scored 13 runs and led the team in home runs (3) and RBIs (19). Olberding also shared the team lead with 12 multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI games.
Ryan, meanwhile, made the move from second base to shortstop a seamless one in 2009, committing just six errors on a team-leading 109 attempts, while also hitting .336 and leading the squad in at-bats (122), runs (19), hits (41) and stolen bases (14).
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
SMU returns six of its top seven hitters, while also boasting eight pitchers who threw at least 13 innings a year ago.
“We’ve got a lot of guys with experience on the mound in (college) game situations,” said Winecke. “And so far (this season) I really like what I’ve seen out of the guys.”
One key for the Cardinals this year will be finishing what they start. SMU heading into the seventh inning with the lead nine times last season — but won just five of those contests.
“We were in a lot of games last year where we went into the final innings with the lead, but came out on the short end,” Winecke said. “Hopefully those games were learning experiences for us — not to mention a thing of the past.
“I’m excited about the potential of this team,” added Winecke. “If there’s one thing I can guarantee, it’s that we are going to be an extremely hard-working team and we are going to make sure to get better every single day.”
One percent at a time.