Baseball looking to avoid Weber mental block

By Jared Romero

With everyone hyped up about the start of football season, there is another team looking to make its mark for USU.

The club baseball team looks to start off its fall season on the right foot Friday at 5 p.m. against rival Weber State at Providence Field.

“People think that just because we are a club, we don’t take this serious,” said team captain and third baseman AlexDavis. “We take it just as serious as any other team here.”

Looking to improve from last year’s performance when they took second in the Northern Pacific East Conference with a 10-5 record, the Aggies are looking for that coveted conference championship that each player has in the back of his mind.

Teams in the conference include Weber State, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, and Montana State. The main competitor is Weber St., the defending conference champions and the team that everyone is looking to beat. The Aggies are looking to make a statement right away as their first series is against the Wildcats.

“Last year it seemed like we had a mental block when we played against (Weber State), but we know we can beat them,” Davis said. “It was like every game there was one inning where they just crushed us. We know if we can start off the season with wins against them, it will set the tone right away that we are for real.”

The team plays betwen 10 and 15 games in the fall, then starts its real season in the spring. One of the highlights for this year’s team is going to Arizona during Spring Break for six games. There they will play top-caliber teams such as Arizona State and Oregon.

Coached by Bret Al-Imari and Norm Doyle, the Aggies bring back a core set of players in the lineup.

First baseman Brock Neagle is back after having an all-conference year last season. Kelden Peterson, who finished last year with a .362 batting average, Jake Fagan and Greg Palmer are also key guys to look for.

The pitching is anchored by three core players: Casey Jorgensen, Ryan Johnson and Ryan Doyle. The trio racked up 12 combined wins last year. Doyle was chosen as an all-conference selection, and he also pitched the most innings in all of club baseball last year.

The Aggies look forward to their three-game home stand starting Friday afternoon, before finishing up with a double-header starting Saturday at noon.

–jare.ro@aggiemail.usu.edu