Club baseball scores 49 runs in weekend series
After a rocky game Friday that resulted in an 8-6 loss to the University of Colorado, the Utah State University baseball club finished the weekend winning the final three games of the series 22-0, 15-5 and 6-1.
With the three wins, the Aggies improve their fall record to 7-4.
The games were the first of Colorado’s season, who came away with only the one win from the first game.
“We walked a lot of guys in that first game,” said Aggie Head Coach Ernie Rivers.
He said the Aggies struggled to find their rhythm, giving up a grand slam, but the offense was good enough to almost pull out a victory.
The second game of the series was a different ball of wax as the Aggies shut out the Buffaloes and scored 22 runs.
The second inning was the back-breaker as Utah State scored 16 runs and kept the inning going for more than an hour, Rivers said.
“It’s hard to stay really focused when you’re up 18-0 in the second inning,” Rivers said.
The Aggies were able to keep their composure and shut out Colorado.
The third game featured more Aggie offense as the team put another 15 runs on the board.
Utah State was able to keep things moving and the game was called after the fifth inning because Utah State was up by 10 runs, Rivers said.
In the final game of the series the USU pitching staff held Colorado to one run.
The offense continued to swing the bat well and put six more runs on the board to give Utah State 49 runs for the weekend.
“It was [Colorado’s] first games of the season,” Rivers said. “[But] I really expected better pitching and better hitting.”
The pitching has continued to show improvement compared to last season as the staff combined for a 2.90 ERA this weekend to lower the season ERA to 3.30.
“I think the pitchers realize that if they throw strikes we are going to get them runs,” Rivers said.
The offense has continued to meet team goals as well.
Rivers was hoping the team would bat .350 for the fall season. This weekend the offense hit .480 to keep the team well over the goal.
One of the most important things this weekend for Rivers was the way the team played. He said he felt his players played well as a team and the effort was made as a complete team.
– jwhigg@cc.usu.edu