Utah State baseball club looks to tame Wildcats in weekend homestand
After riding the Boise State Broncos to a series sweep, the Utah State baseball club is back on the practice field preparing for games against Weber State on Friday and Saturday.
With a young team full of sore arms after their first weekend series, USU Head Coach Ernie Rivers plans on taking it easy this week in practice.
“It’s still early so the guys got pretty sore over the weekend,” Rivers said. “We don’t want to take a chance on getting someone hurt.”
After facing a Boise State team with nothing but curve-ball pitchers, Rivers plans to spend extra time in practice working on hitting the breaking ball.
USU scored two runs in the first inning of every game, took several more innings to score again, then scored in the final inning of every game.
“We have to get more aggressive with our bats,” Rivers said. “Boise was nothing but junk-ball pitchers. We hit the high 80s fast ball fine, but we need to learn how to jump on the slow stuff, too.”
Leaving runners on base was the biggest concern Rivers had after the club’s first series. The team did not steal many bases or lay down a bunt last weekend.
Rivers decided to let the team swing away and give the players a chance to show what they could do with runners on base.
“We lost a couple of scoring opportunities because we didn’t play any small-ball last weekend, but that’s OK,” Rivers said. “It’s the fall and I want to see what the guys can do with their bats.”
One Aggie newcomer who had a good series with his bat was second baseman/shortstop Caleb Gray. He went 3-for-6, with five walks and scored five runs.
Gray, who hails from Alabama, speaks with a Southern drawl that his teammates never stop razzing him about.
“They never back off me about my accent,” Gray said. “It’s all in fun though; this is a great group of guys to be around. We’re really coming together as a team.”
With defending national champion Weber State coming to town for a three game series, Gray and his teammates are working hard on fundamentals, eager for Friday to get here.
“This is what it’s all about,” he said. “We want to play a high level of competition and pick up some wins. I scored a lot of runs last weekend because when I got on base the guys picked me up.”
Utah State has never won a series against the Wildcats. A split in a four-game series is the best they’ve been able to muster. Rivers said he would like to take two of the three games this weekend and end the series rut.
He said it’s frustrating losing to Weber State because something always happens to take a game away from his team.
“We play them tough, but seem to come up one run short too often,” Rivers said. “The underclassmen have already learned what our rivalry with Weber is about. Unfortunately, the road to the championship goes through Weber; we want to change that.”
For this weekend’s games, the Aggie club will have a full roster available to take on their rival. Rivers said the underclassmen would see plenty of action so they get exposed to the high caliber of play Weber State will bring to town.
Coming out of the Boise State games, Rivers was surprised by the USU team speed.
“We stole a few bases and got some good reads when we were on base,” Rivers said. “I was kind of surprised; that will be a big boost in the spring.”
Although the team will be loaded with new faces headed into spring, Rivers feels the club will be competitive again this year. Picking up an early season series sweep has given the club and coaching staff reason for optimism for spring ball.
“We’ll be young in the spring, but I think we’re going to be all right,” Rivers said. “It’s going to be fun.”
-eds@cc.usu.edu