The run-rule in baseball is one of the worst ways to lose, especially in a season opener. Luckily the Oles mens baseball team was on the giving end of this ruthless rule in a recent game destroying Simpson in a run-rule victory scoring 15-2. Mason Buck ’26 shares a victory with The Olaf Messenger and what it’s like to be a freshman student-athlete on a freshman dominant team.
The team played three games, with two out of three victories. Many of the guys Buck included, were excited to play outside in warm weather compared to Minnesota’s frozen tundra.
“Our bats were just on fire, we got fifteen hits,” Buck said.
Mason also said how excited he was to be a student-athlete and the opportunities that it provides. “Being a student-athlete at such a small school can be fun because it provides you with a great culture and group of friends that you can instantly be a part of,” Buck said.
The team is currently majority first year students, thirteen to be exact with only four seniors. Having a dominate first-year team “allows us to get more potential talent and see who’s really going to perform,” Buck said. “The upperclassmen are fantastic leaders.”
“I was a little nervous coming from high school because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” Buck said. “The guys are fantastic. The coaches are fantastic. I absolutely love it.”
Buck shared the love and rather “brotherly competition” that has formed between the team, stating that even in practice they all push each other to perform the best they can.
“We are all happy for each other and we want the best guys to be out there playing for the team,” Buck said.
The newly formed team struggled with sleeping arrangements during their victory stride in Iowa. Buck shared that there were some creative sleeping arrangements for three guys, one bed, and a pull-out couch.
“We’ll get used to each other,” Buck said.
