Baseball team wins two over weekend
The Utah State baseball team won two out of three games in an important non-conference tournament over the weekend in Ontario, Ore.
The Aggies scored 24 runs in their three games over the weekend. After a disappointing appearance in the first game, the offense and pitching performed well.
Mark Gunn led off the first game with a solo home run and for the rest of the game the Aggies continued to be consistent at the plate.
Gil Hollingsworth had two doubles and Justin Johnson had a couple hits to help the Aggies put five runs on the board against the University of Oregon during the first game.
Head coach Brett Al-Imari said the game was ruled by pitching.
The USU hitters seemed to have trouble with the onslaught of “looping curveballs, and change-up like fastballs,” he said.
Al-Imari said the Aggies’ pitching was mediocre and borderline poor. Shawn Maynard threw well enough to get the win, Al-Imari said, but the lack of run support caused the team to get the loss.
Games two and three were played against the University of Western Washington. The Aggies won game two 5-1.
Kyle McDonald had only four hits in the second game. His six strikeouts helped to hold Western Washington to only one run.
Johnson and Hollingsworth continued their consistent performance at bat. Hollingsworth doubled and singled while Johnson had two doubles in the game.
Al-Imari said game two was a solid win for the Aggies.
“It helped prove that we can beat teams outside of our conference,” he said.
For the Ags, game three was more offensive than the first two. Utah State was able to pull out a second win against Washington, winning 14-11.
Connor Jones, Landon Jones, Derek Bennett and Ryan Palmer all had two hits to contribute to the Aggie offense. Johnson was able to continue his strong performance for the day with a triple.
Last year’s National Collegiate Baseball Association All-American Tyler Al-Imari had a run scoring double that helped the Aggies go up against Western Washington.
USU’s pitching was much better by game three as Justin McDermitt pitched five and two-thirds innings allowing only five hits. He was able to strike out six players as well.
Al-Imari said that this tournament was important because it helped the Aggies see what the competition outside of their conference is like. He added that it helped them get a step closer to believing they can win a national title.
“Our players have the ability to beat anyone that is willing to play us,” Al-Imari said.
The Aggies will play at home this weekend against Weber State, a team responsible for two of the Aggies’ four losses. The games will be on Friday and Saturday at Zollinger Park in Providence.
-krn@cc.usu.edu