Baseball keeps win streak alive
The Utah State University baseball club extended its winning streak to 11 games this weekend with a 14-5 win against Weber State University on Friday and victories of 9-2, 15-5 and 12-5 against Montana State University on Saturday and Sunday.
The game against Weber State went nine innings instead of the traditional seven innings college baseball usually plays. In the nine-inning contest, Utah State was able to beat Weber State for the second time during the fall.
“We didn’t play probably as well as we could have, but we won 14-5,” said Aggie Head Coach Ernie Rivers.
Weber has handed the Aggies two of their four losses this season and the team felt good about beating them this time around.
“The first game was a big one because it was against Weber,” said Adam Hislop, club vice president and second baseman.
The last three home games for the Aggies provided the high-scoring games they have been accustomed to, outscoring Montana State 36-12.
The three wins against Montana State combined with the win against Weber set a new club wins record with 15.
“We’ve never won more than 11 games,” Rivers said. “It’s a nice feeling.”
Even with the four wins, the team found areas in which it feels it needs to improve.
“I think we came out flat overall and we got away with mental errors,” Hislop said.
This season Utah State has scored 219 runs, while its opponents were only able to score 69 runs against the Aggies. The pitching staff has performed remarkably well, compiling a team ERA of 2.59 and the starters threw seven complete games out of 19 games played.
“When we step out onto the field, we just find a way to win,” Rivers said.
Many of the teams the Aggies have played have not put up as much of a fight this year, but Rivers thinks it is because his team has gotten better and not the other way around.
“I don’t think the teams we played are any worse than last year,” Rivers said.
The Aggies will have one more road trip this week as they head to Rangley, Colo., to face the Spartans of Colorado Northwestern Community College. While the team is from a junior college and doesn’t compete in the same league as the Aggies, Rivers is not taking this team lightly.
“By far, this should be the best quality team we’ve faced,” Rivers said.
When the two teams faced off last spring, the Spartans took home a 9-8 win Utah State gave away in the bottom of the seventh inning.
With the recent hot streak the Aggies have been on, Rivers thinks they can win both games against a Spartan team that won three of four games against club baseball World Series runner-up Colorado State this fall. Utah State lost by one run to Colorado State in their only meeting this season.
The excitement around the club is not around the final games of the fall season, but it is around the possibilities that have opened up for the spring season, when the games count.
“I think we’ve progressed the right way,” Rivers said. “I’d just hope we can carry it into the spring.”
-jwhigg@cc.usu.edu