Aggie baseball swept to start the season
The Utah State baseball club left Twin Falls, Idaho with their heads held high Saturday despite losing all four games of their weekend series against College of Southern Idaho.
“We went up there thinking if we win one or two of these games we’re doing pretty good,” pitcher Jaren Tyler said. “Our goal is to beat teams like this when we’re in midseason form.”
The Golden Eagles had already played ten games in their junior college league and wouldn’t count against Utah State’s overall season record. With this being the first time the Aggies had played outside since fall, head coach Norm Doyle was pleased with the amount of competitive games his team played.
“We lost four games, but that’s kind of what I expected as far as the scores,” Doyle said. “I wasn’t really going down there with the intent of being worried about whether we lost or won. It was all good from my standpoint.”
Pitcher Tyler Berry said he thought the team returned home with what they needed from the series.
“Even though we didn’t win, I felt that we did well for not being on a field for three months,” he said. “Taking away from these four games, I felt it improved us in a lot of ways.”
Doyle said while he expected the Aggie bats to be a little cold, the Golden Eagle pitching made it that way too.
“I knew our bats were going to be the problem. We hadn’t seen live pitching at all yet this year,” he said. “Bats were slow, we struck out a lot, a lot of swing and miss, which you expect for the first game of the season. Probably this weekend was the best pitching we’ll see all year.”
Tyler complimented the solid play of CSI.
“The thing that stuck out to me for the most part was how good of a hitting team they were and how well they pitched,” he said. “It gives us a goal to strive for.”
Doyle said he was just happy with the progress the team keeps making.
“Every game our bats got better and a little faster. We improved and did what we needed to do,” he said.
Game 1 – CSI 3, USU 0
Defense and pitching kept the Aggies in contention, but the team had a hard time thawing off their bats from Logan.
“Pitching all weekend long, with just a couple of exceptions, was just really really good,” Doyle said. “I was extremely impressed with how proficient our pitching was.”
After a shaky first inning, Robert Garrett pitched through the fourth and was outstanding, Doyle said.
“He found his rhythm and he was just mowing through them,” Doyle said. “We had outstanding defense in that first game, which was a pleasant surprise.”
Berry came in for relief, and credited fielding for helping keep the game close.
“Brandon Peterson, our shortstop, helped me out a lot by making a diving play up the middle,” he said. “It was a tough play and it helped me out a lot.”
Game 2 – CSI 3, USU 2
The Aggies felt a little more heartbroken about this game.
“We should have won that game,” Doyle said. “We made a couple of mistakes on defense, a few mental fielding errors here and there that we probably aren’t going to make later on in the season.”
A crucial missed play by the outfield seemed to make all the difference.
“Our left fielder dove and hit his shoulder, guy ended up getting a triple out of it,” Tyler said. “We had two errors and I believe that counted for at least two of their runs.”
Tyler pitched the entire game and gave up one earned run.
“Jaren pitched a complete game, six innings, gave up maybe three hits,” Doyle said. “Our pitching was even better than the first game.”
Doyle said even though the Aggies easily could have won, he was pleased with how the offense stepped up.
“Just an incredible game,” he said. “Our bats were better that game. We finished the first day with two losses, but I couldn’t have been happier with the way we played.”
Game 3 – CSI 10, USU 4
A lack of game experience showed in Saturday’s first game as Utah State let the Golden Eagles jump out to an early lead.
“We were a little thin on pitching for a four game series,” Doyle said. “I don’t know if we were tired or mentally fatigued, but we made several errors in that game that we’re not going to make later on.”
Outfielder Matt Stranski helped spark a late rally, but it was too little too late for the Aggies.
“We were a little bit sloppy,” Doyle said. “Our hitting improved again. From that aspect, I was pleased.”
Game 4 – CSI 9, USU 2
“They scored all nine or ten of their runs in the first two innings,” Doyle said. “We kind of threw our pitcher to wolves.”
Doyle said Berry, who pitched in the early going, hasn’t practiced much with the team, which led to the Golden Eagle hit barrage.
“I felt that I pitched pretty well, a few things that I needed to work on, but definitely happy about my performance,” Berry said. “First time being on the field and first time pitching off a mound for the first time in about three months.”
Doyle said he challenged the team to finish well and they rose to the occasion.
“I said ‘Okay guys, throw those first two innings away. We’ve got five more innings to play. Let’s see who wins these last five innings,’ and we did,” he said. “We shut them out the rest of the way and we scored a run or two.”
Doyle said the overall weekend showed the moxie and future he feels his team will continue to showcase.
“Defense and fielding and the score, those show that we’ve got a quality team coming back this year,” Doyle said. “I was extremely impressed.”
The Aggies now wait two weeks before heading to Mesquite, Nev. for tournament play.
–m.hop@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter:@legendarymhops