USU takes two from Weber
By Tyler Huskinson
assistant sports editor
The USU baseball club had a goal of remaining undefeated throughout its play in the Northern Pacific East Conference. Although that goal slipped away with a loss to Weber State on Friday, the No.14 Aggies are one win away from clinching back-to-back conference titles after taking two of three games from the Wildcats.
USU came out flat in its first game, and a five-run third inning propelled the Wildcats over the Aggies in the first game of a doubleheader 10-5 at Max L. Johnson Memorial Field in Providence.
“Just sitting in the stands, you could tell we were flat,” USU head coach Norm Doyle said. “There was no excitement in the dugout. Guys looked tired, bats were slow – we weren’t mentally into the game. We made some mental mistakes that cost us big.”
USU’s five runs came on 10 hits, but the team also committed four errors.
“Unfortunately, we came out very flat in the first game,” Doyle said. “Who knows why? The guys have been doing a lot of schoolwork this past week, and maybe that had something to do with it. We just weren’t ready to play in that first game, and it showed.”
USU first baseman Jake Bartholomew and outfielder Brett Jensen finished with two RBIs apiece in the losing effort.
Weber State jumped out quickly in the second game, scoring one run in the first and two in the second. USU scored three runs in the top of the third to tie the game, before scoring a run in the bottom of the third to regain the lead.
“We changed our mentality, especially in game three,” USU second baseman Brad Singer said. “We came out focused and swung the bat.”
USU scored three runs again in the top of the fifth and added an insurance run in the sixth and seventh innings to take the game 8-6.
“They came back, 20 minutes later, ready to play and played really well,” Doyle said. “They could have been down and just let it get to them and given another game away, but they didn’t. They turned it back, and they won it. I’m really proud of them.”
USU wasted no time in clinching the three-game set, as the team jumped out to a big lead in the final game of the weekend Saturday and cruised to a 16-1 seven-inning victory.
Weber State pitcher Anthony Rojas pegged Singer to lead off the top of the first inning, and center fielder Matt Stranski drove in Singer, two batters later, on a heads-up double. Bartholomew drove Stranski in with a single on the next at-bat.
In the bottom of the first, with runners on second and third, Weber State catcher Johnny Dykester drove in Cisneros on a single.
Durrant allowed two more hits and struck out 11 batters the rest of the night.
“(Durrant) has been outstanding all year long for us,” Doyle said. “When we’ve needed a big win, he’s gone out there and gotten for us. He’s pitched great, game after great game, all year long. The team just knows when Kyle is on the mound, the other team isn’t going to be scoring very many runs. I think that helps us loosen up right there. It does a lot for our team.”
USU didn’t score in the top of the second, but it was the calm before the storm as the Aggies put 13 runs on the board between the third and fifth innings.
“Today, we were back to Aggie baseball,” Doyle said. We were smacking the ball around, and we had fantastic pitching.”
USU finished with 18 hits and led 15-1 after five innings.
“That’s how we’ve been playing all year,” Doyle said. “We’ve had maybe two or three games all year where we haven’t done that. It’s just fun.”
USU finishes the regular season with a three-game homestand against the University of Utah. The Aggies will host a single game at 6 p.m. Friday and a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday in Providence.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu