Aggies drop two to CSI Golden Eagles
The Utah State baseball team battled hard in a twin bill with the College of Southern Idaho but fell in both games Friday.
Many of the Aggies’ early matchups are against scholarship programs, which
center fielder Matt Stranski said he feels has contributed to the team’s 0-4 start on the season.
“It was good to get a lot of exposure early on,” Stranski said. “We wanted to compete later in the season, and we will be there.”
Jeff Schifman kept the Aggies competitive in the first game of the doubleheader, hitting two RBIs in the 8-5 loss.
“He hit hard every time,” Utah State head coach Norm Doyle said.
CSI lit up the scoreboard first, picking up three runs in the bottom of the second. The Aggies answered in the top of the fourth with two runs of their own.
“We played really well,” Doyle said. “We battled hard, got down and then battled again.”
The Aggies tied it up at four with two more runs in the top of the fifth before CSI opened up a three-run lead.
“They got three runs late, and that really hurt us,” Stranski said.
In the second game of the day, CSI scored five runs on six hits to blank the Aggies 5-0.
“In the second game we looked tired,” Doyle said. “We were dragging. Our bats were slow.”
USU struggled to find offense in the second game.
“We saw a ton of pitchers,” Stranski said. “They had a lot of fresh arms. It was tough to get our timing and rhythm down.”
Utah State held off Southern Idaho until the bottom of the third when CSI scored one run.
“They got some timely hits, and we didn’t when we got the chance,” Doyle said.
CSI scored two more in the fifth for the win.
Defensively, the Aggies played well in both games.
“We have the ability to be defensively better than we have been,” Stranski said.
On the mound, Robert Garret threw 30 of 46 pitches for strikes.
“Robert was outstanding in that second game,” Doyle said.
The Aggies are next on the road for a four-game tournament in Mesquite, Nev.
– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu