The beginning of the 1895 season was a flurry of activity. Hitting had been improving over the past couple of seasons, but it looks like pitching may be returning to the Collegiate Baseball Association. The month of March featured 39 shutouts, compared to 15 outstanding hitting performances by batters. With that being said, however, there were 19 players hitting over .400 at the end of the month. Rutgers junior second baseman Bryce Ames leads the way at .460. California sophomore first baseman Kelly Slifka has hit four home runs this season. North Carolina senior first baseman Sam Smith leads the CBA with 26 RBI, more than half his total for all of last year! Wake Forest junior left fielder Fred Clarke leads the league with 23 stolen bases. Clarke had 51 last season. On the pitching side, Stanford senior Joe Cruz leads the CBA with seven wins, and no losses, after putting up a 16-2 record last year. North Carolina junior Joe Scott has the CBA's lowest ERA at 0.76. Lafayette junior Eric "Havoc" Ringelberg leads the association with 34 strikeouts. That's nearly double his output per nine than either of his first two seasons.
Syracuse came out on top after a month of play, posting a CBA best record of 15-5. Given, the Orange's schedule wasn't very strong, so they will need to continue to play well to stay on top. Syracuse leads Rutgers by 1 1/2 games in the Northeast Region. In the New England Region, Dartmouth is a game ahead of Harvard, and 1 1/2 games up on Yale. Lafayette is the leader in the Atlantic by a game over Lehigh. In the Southeast Region, Mississippi State holds a two-game advantage over three other teams. Northwestern and Michigan State are tied atop the Great Lakes Region, with Ohio only 1/2 a game back. Illinois finds themselves a game out, while Chicago and Illinois State are 1 1/2 back. In the Midwest, Iowa State has made believers out of some, vaulting to a three-game lead over Nebraska. Washington State leads the Pacific by two games, and Tulane leads LSU by three games in the Southwest Region.
The major highlight of the month was on March 8th, when Mississippi State senior second baseman went 4 for 5 in a 15-2 drubbing of Wake Forest while hitting for the cycle!! At the end of March, Rookie of the Month was given to Lafayette freshman pitcher Corey Cooney. The 19-year-old righty went 6-1, with a 1.74 ERA in seven starts. Iowa State sophomore Billy Koop earned the Pitcher of the Month award for posting a 6-1 mark with a 1.15 ERA in seven starts. Opponents were held to a mere .182 batting average against the left-hander. Kevin Hill of Michigan State was honored with the Batter of the Month award. The 22-year-old senior first baseman hit .434 in March with three home runs, 21 RBI, and 17 runs scored.