The early returns weren't good.
The next set of numbers to come in may not be much better.
But Winthrop baseball coach Tom Riginos laughed Wednesday and said it was far too soon to pass judgment on his team, despite an 0-4 start achieved in a fairly dismal fashion.
"Oh, no, no, no," Riginos said. "It's way too early to panic about what's happened so far. We're trusting what we do, because the way we do things has worked for a long time.
"It's a process, and the process is going to work itself out."
The Eagles have started winless, taking a 13-3 loss to Western Carolina Tuesday after dropping all three games of their own Coca-Cola Classic the previous weekend, when even the weather was against them.
They've been outscored 34-9 in four games, and have managed just 19 hits as a team. Only five players have multiple hits, and just two players (T.J. Olesczuk and Patrick Gamblin) have more than two each.
"No, it's not been good, but we've faced some good pitching," Riginos said when asked about his offense. "Those kind of things are always a concern, but again, it's early.
"We're only four games in, and I always believe it takes about 20 games to get a good feel for where things are."
Part of Winthrop's problem so far has been scheduling. Two of the losses came to Georgia Tech, which is ranked 11th in this week's Collegiate Baseball top 25 poll. This weekend's opponent in a three-game series is Georgia, ranked ninth in the same poll. Winthrop goes there for games Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Winthrop also lost to Kent State last weekend. The Flashes were picked to win the Mid-American Conference after they won 45 games, their third straight MAC title and advanced to the regional final of the NCAA tournament last year.
Other games against top-caliber teams are forthcoming, as the Eagles will visit No. 10 North Carolina and No. 16 Clemson later this spring, with No. 13 Arizona State and No. 21 Oregon State on deck when they travel to Arizona next weekend for a tournament,
Throw in a home-and-home set with College of Charleston, and they'll play 11 games against teams ranked in Collegiate Baseball's preseason Top 40.
"We scheduled it that way on purpose," Riginos said in the preseason. "We want to get our guys to a level where you're going to have to beat those teams. You learn something when you play teams of that kind of quality. You learn the things like consistency that you just have to have if you're going to be a team that plays in the regionals, which is what we hope to do around here."
Of course, that kind of exposure also comes with a cost.
The Eagles are extremely young, with 14 freshmen among the 18 newcomers to the program this year. Riginos admitted keeping those kids rooted in long-term reality might be difficult, since their record could easily be upside down for the next month.
"We've made a point of staying very positive," the second-year coach said. "You have to keep guys' confidence up, and keep reminding them to look at the body of work at the end of the year, rather than the first four or the first 10 games.
"Hopefully we're going to be a team that finishes strong, and at the moment, this is just part of the process that has to play itself out. We're going to stay positive though. We have so many young guys, that has to be the message."
