Club baseball sees where it stands for the season
The Utah State University Aggies opened the fall season of club baseball wanting to know if their pitching had improved and if they had lost anything on offense.
After facing Weber State University Friday and Saturday, they know the offense is back and the pitching is better. But now they have to work on their defense.
After losing Friday’s game 12-9 at Weber State, the Aggies came back strong Saturday morning at home, defeating the Wildcats 12-2.
In the final game to close out the weekend, Utah State went into the seventh inning with a two-run lead.
By the time the dust settled from the seventh inning, Weber State was on top, winning the game 16-13.
“I was pretty disappointed by the second loss,” said Utah State Head Coach Ernie Rivers. “I hope it will turn out to be a positive later on in the season.”
Utah State had little to be disappointed about other than the outcomes of the games though.
Over the weekend Utah State collected 37 hits, seven of which were doubles and three of which were triples. The team as a whole had a .352 batting average, had an on-base percentage of .500 and averaged more than 11 runs per game.
“Any time you can average 11 runs a game you have a pretty good chance to win [and] when you hit the ball 37 times in three games, you’re doing something right,” Rivers said.
Shortstop/second baseman Adam Hislop said, “With our offense and with our pitching we are at or above our expectations. We are a better team than the score showed.”
Rivers said the biggest objective in the fall is to prepare the team for spring. Wins and losses do not matter as much as giving new players the opportunity to prove they can play and to give the veterans an opportunity to get in a groove for spring, he said.
“I was pleased with all but three innings this weekend,” Rivers said.
Hislop believes the defensive breakdowns occurred because the team had only played together in practice.
In the first game Saturday morning, Utah State fell behind in the first inning 1-0. The Aggies quickly tied the score in the second inning and in the third, things started to heat up.
The Aggies extended their lead when left fielder Jarom Bishop stole second base. The throw to the base went into the outfield allowing Bishop to get to third and allowed first baseman Mark Larsen, who had been on third to score.
After the double steal, Bishop scored on designated hitter Corey Fletcher’s single to left.
The Aggies then had a 3-1 lead they would not lose the rest of the game.
Starting pitcher Tommy Poppleton threw 5 innings giving up two runs. Pitcher Sean Morrissey threw two scoreless innings in relief giving up one hit.
-jwhigg@cc.usu.edu