Baseball club wins three of four on road trip
After opening the fall season with two tough losses to Weber State University, the Utah State University baseball club showed its resiliency by winning three out of four games on its road trip.
The Aggies were able to win three games against the University of Wyoming, beating the Cowboys 18-10, 6-5 and 13-2.
However, the Colorado State Rams were able to escape with a 3-2 victory over the Aggies Sunday.
In the first game against Wyoming, second baseman Adam Hislop put the Aggies ahead for good with a grand slam home run.
The slam was the first home run of his career.
The Aggies tacked six more runs on the board after the homer, and pitcher Sean Maynard threw a complete game.
“A lot of things contributed [to the win], but the important thing that matters is we came out on top,” Maynard said.
In the second game, the Aggies were able to hold off a late Cowboy rally and hold on to the win.
Utah State pitcher Sean Morrissey threw a complete game as well, and had a no-hitter over three innings.
Aggie pitchers continued the trend Sunday with Andy Smith throwing a complete game win, and Tommy Poppleton staying on the mound the entire time in the loss to the Rams.
In the game against Colorado State, the Aggies scored runs in the first and second innings to keep the game close.
Utah State had a chance to tie with runners on first and third in the final inning, but a strikeout ended the threat and the game, Maynard said.
Utah State kept the offensive onslaught going this weekend by scoring 41 runs and hitting .398 as a team. The pitching continued to show improvement by posting a 3.77 team ERA and getting ahead in the count on 75 of the 115 batters the staff faced.
“If you stay ahead of the hitters, you’re going to be more successful,” said USU Head Coach Ernie Rivers. “It keeps them off balance. I’m ecstatic about our pitching.”
Jonathan Swenson, club president, said, “I was so impressed with how the pitching did. Complete games were a rarity last season.”
The defense showed major improvement over the weekend as well, posting a 95 percent fielding percentage and committing no errors Sunday.
Rivers said the team is getting more comfortable with each other on the field, and one of the main reasons is the amount of innings the guys are playing together.
He said he also believes those innings will also translate into better chemistry, and in turn will translate into improved playing on the field.
Perhaps the team’s biggest accomplishment team this weekend was the way USU responded without a lot of its starters playing, Swenson said.
“Everybody that had the opportunity came to the plate this weekend and performed,” he said. “I believe that everybody on this team can contribute.”
– jwhigg@cc.usu.edu