Carbondale, IL (U-WIRE) -- SIU outfielder Kevin Koski, who finished the 2005 season with a 35-game hitting streak, has not been able to continue his hitting success into the summer.

Koski, who was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/ Rawlings Midwest Region Baseball Team, finished the 2005 season as the Saluki's second best hitter with a .380 batting average and 32 RBIs.

Since leaving SIU for the summer to play in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League, Koski has found hits hard to come by. After 21 games playing with the Hyannis Mets, Koski is batting .111 with 2 RBIs and 11 strikeouts. Koski said his lower numbers can be attributed to the transition between leagues.

"I'm struggling a little bit right now," Koski said. "I'm getting used to sharing time with someone else and playing pretty much every other day. It's different from back at school where I play every day."

SIU Head Baseball Coach Dan Callahan said the Cape Cod league is the most prestigious summer college league in the country and the best college players attend. Most league's players become high draft picks in Major League Baseball.

Hyannis General Manager John Howitt said he is disappointed in the way Koski has swung the bat so far, but Koski isn't the only Met having trouble batting. Collectively, the Mets have a .205 average so far this season.

"His hitting is not what we had hoped it would be," Howitt said. " But most of our team is not hitting."

Howitt said the league's talented pitchers cause many players struggle to hit when they enter. He said the teams most of the players face in college have pitchers they rank from one to five. In the Cape Cod league, Howitt said, each of the pitchers is the number one or two pitcher for his college team.

"The level of competition is higher than they have ever seen before and many of them struggle," Howitt said. "But many of them overcome it."

Callahan said several Saluki players who have gone to the Cape Cod league over the years have struggled to hit the ball. He agreed that the pitching is much tougher than the players are used to.

"The guys you seen in the college world series, that is where they go to pitch during the summer," Callahan said. "It's typically a pitchers league and I know in the end you will see more guys hitting in the .100s than the .300s."

Howitt said the change from aluminum bats to wood bats also causes players to struggle. He said wooden bats don't have the speed aluminum bats have, and it takes time before the players can adjust to the change.

Koski used wooden bats while playing in the Shenandoah Valley League in the summer of 2004. He said the transition to wood during the past two summers has been tough.

"I swung with wood last summer," Koski said. "It's always tougher going from metal to wood."

Despite Koski's offensive struggles, Howitt said Koski has been a bright spot in the Met's defense.

"He is a wonderful outfielder," Howitt said. "He is very very fast. We are delighted to have him."

Koski said he has tried to transform frustration in the batting box to energy in center field.

"I'm struggling hitting right now but I always concentrate and try to make a good play on defense to make up for something I did wrong at the plate," Koski said.

Callahan said every time he has sent players to the Cape Cod league, they have improved and that the league has tougher competition then SIU players typically see in the Missouri Valley Conference.

"I don't know if you can call it the game slowing down but we don't see that kind of competition day in and day out," Callahan said. "That is the best of the best."

(C) 2004 Daily Egyptian via U-WIRE