Larsen’s six homers help USU baseball sweep Boise
A Providence City power outage postponed five and a half innings of the Utah State baseball club’s game with Boise State Friday night.
But it didn’t matter.
In Saturday’s continuation of that game, as well as the additional two games originally scheduled, the Aggies lit up the Broncos (2-7) like a Las Vegas night.
Led by first baseman Mark Larsen’s six home runs, USU won each contest convincingly, 9-6, 13-3, and 12-0.
Yes, that’s right. He had six home runs.
Larsen started the barrage of scoring for the Aggies with a solo shot over the center field fence Friday, which evened up the score at one.
Then in Saturday’s final game, he finished what he started.
With a 9-0 lead and runners on second and third in the bottom of the fifth inning, Larsen hit the ball out in deep center, ending the game (a 10-run mercy rule was applied for the Aggies’ final two wins) and giving his team a 3-0 start into Western Mountain Conference play.
Larsen had three homers in game one, two in game two, and one in game three. He finished the weekend 7-for-14 at the plate with 12 RBIs.
“I feel like I’m seeing [the ball] well,” Larsen said. “The ball looks like a basketball right now. I try to go up and keep the same swing that you have going and just try to drive the ball.
“I don’t ever try to hit a home run. I just try to hit the ball hard in a line somewhere, and if I swing well, then it’ll take care of itself,” he said.
Aggie Head Coach Ernie Rivers had an affable smile on his face after the game when asked about Larsen’s performance. How could he not?
“I think Mark’s a freak of nature,” he said. “During the summer he really started to hit the ball well, and that was after he started going to right field. As soon as he started going to right field, he just tore up the summer leagues.
“And it looks like that’s what he’s doing now. Mark’s a gamer,” he said.
But it wasn’t just Larsen connecting.
Six other Aggies cleared the fence once, including a Jared Shepherd (4-for-12, four stolen bases) grand slam in game three which put USU up 6-0.
Also in that list is one of the younger guys, first baseman Jacob Little.
To lead off the bottom of the fourth in game three, Rivers had Little pinch hit for outfielder Justin Johnson.
The result?
A solo shot over the right field fence and a 9-0 lead.
“I put guys in and there doesn’t seem to be any drop off. That’s the fun part about coaching this team,” Rivers said.
Larsen, who now leads the National Club Baseball Association in home runs (10), agreed.
“This is the best team we’ve had in four years,” he said. “The confidence is going well right now. Our pitching is great. Our pitching gets us out of the inning real fast and then we’ve got great sluggers.”
The Aggies (9-9) continue WMC play this weekend as they travel to the University of Idaho on Friday for a four-game series.
-samhis@cc.usu.edu