For most teams, losing six straight games to start the season can lead to disaster.

Fortunately, the UNCW baseball team has responded in the best way possible to its 0-6 start. The Seahawks are playing well, winning nine of their last 11 games to bring their season record to 9-8.

The team started its season with a two-game, home and home series against Elon and a three-game series at national powerhouse South Carolina. Coming into this season, pitching was a major uncertainty for the Seahawks, and during their first six games, the pitching was not sharp. UNCW gave up 63 runs while only scoring 27. Starting pitchers got pulled early, and the bullpen was not effective. In his first two starts, junior Ronald Hill went 0-2, lasting a total of 4 1/3 innings with an ERA of 14.54. Even preseason All-American relief pitcher Blake Cross got roughed up in his first two appearances, giving up 11 runs in just 3 1/3 innings.

Then, the Hughes Bros. Tournament came around, and so did the Seahawks. After losing their first game, the team won its final two games of the series, and in the following weeks rattled off five more wins for a seven-game winning streak.

During the run, the difference from the beginning of the season was remarkable; the pitching was superb as the Seahawks outscored their opponents 41-15, including two shutouts. Hill and Cross bounced back as Hill won his next two starts, giving up only two earned runs in 17 1/3 innings. Cross converted three saves in his next four appearances, not allowing any earned runs.

The early woes and the success that followed may be a testament of the Seahawks’ tough non-conference schedule. This season’s schedule has already seen teams such as South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Georgia, Duke, West Virginia and Elon, while Kent State, East Carolina and N.C. State loom in the near future.

The coaches realize that the tough schedule can only help them.

“Our non-conference schedule is probably the best up and down the East Coast,” coach Mark Scalf said. “That is good for this young club. It gives us an indication of what we have to do to compete at the end of the year.””The difficulty of our schedule gives us an opportunity to prepare for CAA games because there are six or seven very solid clubs in the conference, and we’re learning everyday. The guys are making improvements, and that’s what we ask them to do,” said Scalf.

The players also realize the importance of stout competition.

“We play probably the best non-conference schedule in the league, and we have to do that to get better,” shortstop Aaron Smith said. The Seahawks return to action when they welcome Kent State for a three-game weekend series, beginning March 19.