The weather was cold. The bats were colder.
The Lincoln Blue Tigers managed just eight hits in 16 innings of a baseball doubleheader with Missouri Southern on Sunday, and two of them were infield singles.
So it's no surprise the Blue Tigers dropped both games, falling 12-1 and 9-1 to the Lions at Lincoln Field.
"And out of our eight hits, none of them were line drives or gap shots, nothing like that," Lincoln coach Jim Dapkus said.
With temperatures hovering in the lower 30s during the games and a howling wind blowing from the north, it all combined to make it a long day for the Blue Tigers.
"Their pitchers obviously deserve some credit," Dapkus said. "And some of it is just been how we've had to prepare for the past couple weeks, not being able to get outside. And the weather does come into it a little bit."
The troubles were there from the start, as the Blue Tigers got no-hit for the first four innings of the opener.
They finally got back-to-back hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to produce a run, but the Lions had scored six runs in the top half of that frame to make it a 10-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lincoln's Josh Kennedy led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a single by Craig Jones and scored on a balk.
The only other hit of the game was a single by Jones in the seventh inning.
Nathan Lueckenhoff started and took the loss for Lincoln, giving up eight earned runs on seven hits and three walks in four-plus innings of work. He struck out two.
John Dalton Goings followed and pitched one inning, giving up two earned runs on two hits and one walk with one strikeout. Gus Goodnight worked the last two innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk. He added one strikeout.
In the nightcap, Lincoln got three hits in the first inning but just two during the final eight frames.
"We've just got some guy struggling, and it's tough when the majority of the lineup is struggling," Dapkus said. "It's tough to figure out if we stay with those guys and let them fight through it, or do you start replacing them? It's so early and we've got a lineup that I think will be OK, we just have to get them some at-bats and see what happens."
The Blue Tigers got their only run in that first inning. James Earlywine led off with a single, Zach Roberts followed with a walk and they both moved up a base on a sacrifice by Ben Stewart. Kaleb Davis followed with an infield single and one out later, Jones rapped another infield single that scored Earlywine.
But the Blue Tigers wouldn't get another hit until the seventh inning, by which time the Lions had the game in hand. Missouri Southern scored four in the third, one in the first and four in the eighth to win going away.
The Lions got the large run total despite going down 1-2-3 in the first, second, sixth and seventh innings, and they sent just four batters to the plate in the fifth.
"You hate to say it, but if that first guy gets on base, we might have problems that inning," Dapkus said. "But if we can get the first guy out, we're almost a completely different pitching staff. Just being able to deal with adversity and playing the game is part of it."
Zach York took the loss, pitching the first five innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out four.
Joshua Register worked the next three stanzas and gave up four earned runs on two hits and four walks. He struck out two. Gatlin Wiggans got two groundouts and a pop out in his inning of work.
The Blue Tigers dropped to 0-6 overall and 0-4 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while the Lions improved to 8-0 and 4-0.
"We've got some work to do, obviously, but it doesn't look like the forecast is going to help us out at all this week in terms of getting some more consistent time on the field," Dapkus said. "Missouri Southern was on our field as much this weekend as we've been on it the last three weeks."
The Blue Tigers return to action this weekend at conference foe Lindenwood, playing single games Friday and Sunday, sandwiched around a Saturday doubleheader.
"We've got to get better," Dapkus said. "The conference just does not allow you to ease into things. You've got to get things straightened out right off the bat because there's no weekends where we know it's going to be an easy weekend for us.
"We're giving up way too many bases and it's putting way too much pressure on a team that's not hitting right now."