Aggie baseball take Homecoming victories
After splitting a four-game set with Colorado State from Sept. 21-23, the Utah State club baseball team bounced back for a two-game sweep of the Rexburg Rebels on Friday at home.
“Overall we came out and hit the ball really well,” said club president Garrett Schiffman. “I was really happy with our approaches at the plate. Our pitching came through and we made some plays defensively.”
Game 1 – Utah State 7, Rexburg 3
The Aggies jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first three innings and used a 3-run sixth inning to seal the win. Jarren Tyler, Tyler Christensen and Mckay Hedin combined to toss a six-hitter for USU, and Garrett Wallace had a big day at the plate.
“Anytime Jarren is on the mound we feel pretty confident,” center fielder Matt Stranski said. “We played pretty solid. We’re really proud of Garrett. He came through in the clutch and helped us out big. Him and him alone was a big part of us winning that ball game.”
Wallace had a double early to plate a pair of runs and then provided two more insurance runs in the sixth with a double that put the game out of reach after the Rebels had cut the gap to one.
Game 2 – Utah State 13, Rexburg 12
Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the third, USU broke the game open with nine runs in the fourth to take a commanding lead. The Rebels came storming back with seven runs of their own in the fifth and led 12-11 in the seventh, but the Aggies were able to muster two runs in the bottom of the inning for a walk-off win.
“We got the big lead and I think we kind of sat back after that,” Schiffman said. “A lot of focus was lost. When you’re up quite a bit it’s easy to sit back and relax a little bit. We need to stay focused for the whole seven innings.”
Brad Singer had a three-run home run during the offensive breakout, but simple mistakes allowed the Rebels back in the game after USU had built an 11-1 lead.
After knotting the score at 12 in the seventh, Schiffman executed a well-placed suicide squeeze to bring Stranksi to the plate for the win.
“Rexburg has some solid ball players, they have some talent,” Stranski said. “Luckily we were able to prevent a complete meltdown. Garrett always tells us that good ball teams find a way to win. And whenever you win two ball games it’s productive.”
Utah State improved to 6-4 on the season after the sweep and will face a pair of conference foes this weekend. First up is a double-header against the University of Utah on Friday, starting at 6:30 p.m. in Providence, and a double-header Saturday starting at noon against Idaho State.
– curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @curtislundstrom