Aggies split weekend with CEU
The Utah State baseball club split a high-scoring four game series with USU Eastern Junior College over the weekend in Price, Utah.
“A split is great,” pitcher Tyler Zubek said. “Would’ve been happy with a sweep, but I’m happy it didn’t go the other way with the split. That’s a good team, they were excellent hitters.”
Though the Aggies threw their best pitchers, the Golden Eagles were still able to hit the ball around the park consistently, scoring a minimum of six runs in each game.
“Our pitchers were throwing good strikes,” catcher Colton Anderson said. “CEU was hitting the ball pretty well, but I think defensively we made a lot of key plays and minimized our errors.”
It was an offense-happy weekend for both teams. The two squads combined for 74 runs and 90 hits over the four games.
“Everybody was just hitting the ball really well, it was just a hitting weekend,” Zubek said. “The hitting on our side was really good as well.”
After battling with many scholarship teams over the first part of the year, CEU was the last junior college team Utah State has scheduled this season.
“That’s a legitimate college-sanctioned team, they compete competitively,” Zubek said. “They probably take more swings in a day than we do in a week, but we still gave them a good run and beat them two games out of four.”
Zubek said the Aggies were happy to come home with two victories and play the Golden Eagles in Price.
“As a team, I liked how it was fun to go down there and see the little brother college, the College of Eastern Utah,” he said. “It was fun to play those guys down there on their field and beat them a couple times.”
Game 1 – USU 5, CEU 17
Two huge innings proved the difference for the Golden Eagles in an opening route of the Aggies.
“The first game we came out, we were kind of lethargic and that showed in the score,” Zubek said.
Starting pitcher Sixto Cabrera gave up eight runs, seven earned, in the loss. The game was manageable for the Aggies until the bottom of the fourth inning, when a 4-2 deficit was suddenly 10-2. After relieving Cabrera, the bullpen subsequently gave up nine more runs in the next two innings, and the lead was too much to handle for the Aggies.
“The very first game we got our butts kicked, we got those handed to us pretty good,” Anderson said.
Game 2 – USU 12, CEU 7
The Utah State bats woke up for the second game, scoring in all but two innings to bring home the victory.
“I think we relaxed a little bit in game two and that allowed us to hit the ball a lot better that game,” Anderson said. “We hit the holes and made that game a bit better.”
Left fielder Jordan Hansen led the way for the Aggies, going 4-5 with five RBIs. Garrett Schiffman and Brad Singer also chipped in with three hits and two RBIs apiece for the Aggies.
“When we were hitting really well, they didn’t really have any answers for it,” Zubek said.
Game 3 – USU 2, CEU 6
A close battle eventually fell the Golden Eagles’ way Saturday morning. Tied at 2-2 entering the fourth inning, CEU scored runs every inning the rest of the day and shut the Aggie bats down for the win.
“We gave one away,” Anderson said. “We should have been able to walk away and win that one. I think we made a couple of moves late that just weren’t able to benefit us and ended up giving that one away.”
Four Utah State errors proved crucial in allowing CEU to take over the lead. The team had fewer hits than errors, changing the complexion of the contest.
“We fought with CEU the whole way the first game and just ended up giving it away there at the end,” Anderson said.
Game 4 – USU 15, CEU 10
Utah State struck back in the final game with a six-run first inning and continued the momentum throughout.
“We came out and stuck it to them, had some really big, key hits,” Anderson said. “We had three home runs that game.”
Gavin Johnson had five RBIs to go with with his wind-aided blast to left field. Brad Singer and Jordan Hansen also had home runs for the Aggies.
Zubek and Payton Davis pitched, combining to hold the Golden Eagle bats down just long enough for Utah State to pull out the high scoring affair.
“When we jump on it early and get the bats rolling at the beginning of the game, we’re a very difficult team to beat,” Zubek said. “When we come out ready to play and everybody’s hitting the ball, even the junior college scholarship guys and recruited guys have a hard time beating us.”
– m.hop@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter:@legendarymhops