Baseball club swept by junior college power SLCC
Utah State University’s baseball club couldn’t overcome the strong play of a nationally-ranked junior college team as the Aggies lost four games to Salt Lake Community College.
The teams played two games against each other Friday where the Bruins came out on top with a 14-4 and 5-1 win. In Saturday’s doubleheader, SLCC pitched two no-hitters winning both games 10-0.
“They had really good pitching and really timely hits,” pitching coach Jeremy Gordon said. “It was one of those weekends where everything bounces their way and that makes it hard to win.”
Bruins Head Coach Bill Groves was quick to agree with Gordon.
“Our pitching is our strength,” Groves said. “It seemed like they were always hitting the ball right to one of our players.”
Despite Salt Lake’s pitching, the Utah State players were able to make some hits and score some runs Friday.
Jarom Bishop hit a triple and had two RBIs, while Rich Hansen hit a double, driving in a run. Adam Hislop also had an RBI-single.
The games were a good opportunity for Utah State pitchers also, Gordon said. Nearly all of them were able to receive some game time.
Greg Peterson was the starting pitcher for the first game. Taylor Jensen started the second game and Joe McFarlane started for the third game.
“The fourth game and the release pitching was a combined effort by all the pitchers,” Gordon said. “The weekend games were exhibition games. We had an opportunity to go up against one of the better teams in the country as far as junior colleges go.”
With Logan having the long winter it’s had, combined with a lot of snowfall, it has been difficult for the Aggies to practice outside, Groves said.
“We have been practicing since August and were able to get outside in February,” Groves said. “We have played around 60 games already this season.”
The Aggies still have a good chance at being their conference winners.
“We are going to work on getting confidence to go into conference play,” Gordon said. “We are still competitive for the conference title. The upcoming games against Boise are a key. Fan support really helps out, especially if the weather ends up being really nice.”
Utah State will host Boise State University this Friday and Saturday. The games will be a valuable match up for both teams, Gordon said.