USU Baseball shuts the door on Weber
The USU baseball club wrapped up its final games of fall ball this weekend with a makeup doubleheader against Weber State University at Max L. Johnson Memorial Field in Providence.
USU finished the season a six-game winning streak with a pair of 11-1 victories.
The two games had different stories, although ending in similar fashion.
The first game saw a steady flow of Aggie base runners, while the second game didn’t see a single Aggie runner cross home plate until the bottom of the seventh inning, when USU was down by one.
“The first game, balls were dropping in, and we were getting runners in,” he said. “The second game, we were hitting the ball, but we were hitting right at people.”
The Aggies eventually pulled their game together by playing fundamental baseball. They played small ball, bunting often, and eventually pulled away in what was a tight second game.
“The situation dictated the use of bunts,” Doyle said. “It was a 1-0 game, and we could see that it was a tough game. We needed a run, and the bunts let us advance runners.”
Pitchers Robert Garret and Kyle Durrant held Weber to one run in their respective outings. Garrett pitched a complete game in the first game and kept the Wildcats on their heels.
Durrant also went the distance in the second game, working out of tough situations. A transfer from University of Northern Colorado, Durrant’s spot-on pitching became the main reason the Aggies came back to win in the last inning.
“Durrant got into a few troubles in the second game, more from defensive mistakes,” Doyle said. “He got into some situations and had to battle back.”
Durrant was able to hold off the Wildcats until USU put together run support in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“Any time you go on the field, you have to score runs, ” Doyle said. “We didn’t do that early on in the game, and it almost cost us.”
Tyler Martin started the explosive comeback effort for USU in the seventh inning of the second game. He ripped the ball to center field and became the go-ahead run with no outs. Weber made a pitching change, but its next pitcher walked USU’s next batter to put runners on first and second base.
Weber’s catcher missed a high pitch on the next at bat, allowing Martin to advance to third. Martin would eventually give USU its first run of the game on another error from Weber.
What followed was a procession of Aggie players and costly errors from the Wildcats that led to the 11-1 victory for USU.
Going into the two-month off season, the USU baseball club will focus on fund raising and building on the success it had this fall.
“I feel excellent about the season,” Doyle said. “We had a really good fall season and ended on a six-game winning streak. Everything is coming together, everything is looking good.”