Utah State baseball sweeps Boise State on the road
The Utah State baseball club took two games and tied another while committing only two errors in its weekend series against Boise State.
“I’m really happy with the way the guys played this weekend,” said Head Coach Ernie Rivers. “It would have been nice to have a few more arms to pitch for us, though.”
The Aggies won the first seven-inning contest 6-3 with Sean Maynard throwing seven strikeouts in a two-hitter.
Maynard threw five and two-thirds innings of no-hit ball until the Bronco’s singled in the sixth.
He lost the shutout with two-outs in the seventh after walking a batter with the bases loaded, giving up a two-out double that cleared the bases.
“Sean just ran out of gas,” Rivers said. “He hung a breaking ball and the Boise guy jumped on it. He pitched a great game for us, though.”
Justin Johnson and Caleb Gray led USU in hitting going 2-for-3 at the plate.
Rivers said he was happy with the team’s defense, committing no errors in the game.
USU saw game two end in a 4-4 tie, in another seven-inning contest.
“We should have had that game, but we ran out of pitchers” Rivers said. “We need more bodies that can pitch. We’re still having open tryouts for anyone that wants to come out, especially pitchers.”
Mike Farr struck out seven and gave up five hits in four innings of work, leaving with USU up 4-2.
Johnson, pitching with a sore elbow, came on in the fifth, striking out four and giving up three hits and two runs.
“Justin gave us everything he had,” Rivers said. “It’s really tough pitching with a sore arm. Not many guys would have even tried.”
Ty Al-Imari led the way with his bat, swatting two doubles and a single.
“I think Ty is going to make a big impact in our lineup this year,” Rivers said. “He swung the bat well all weekend.”
Once again, the Aggie defensive strength showed, committing no errors in the contest.
“We still have some things to work on, but I was real pleased with our defense.” Rivers said.
The third game of the series was an eight-inning affair, which saw USU come out on top in a 13-10 slugfest.
Both teams used the contest as an opportunity to allow their young players to show their pitching prowess. USU sent four pitchers to the mound, with Jeremy Gordon picking up the win.
With two prior games under their belt, the Aggies had the chance to warm their bats up for game three.
Chris Gorrell led the way going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and a towering homerun over the left-center field fence.
“Chris’s homerun was one of the longest I’ve seen,” Rivers said. “He got all of it.”
Al-Imari also tripled and ripped a line drive homerun to left-center field.
The club will go back to work on fundamentals and communication this week, after missing several double play opportunities because of inexperience, Rivers said.
The team traveled with a short squad of nine underclassmen and four returning players for the first series.
Rivers said he likes to give the new players a chance to show what they can do without having a veteran player looking over their shoulder.
Al-Imari finished the series 7-for-12 at the plate, with nine RBIs, three doubles, a triple and a homerun.
“I’m a first pitch hitter and they were putting it right there, trying to get ahead in the count,” Al-Imari said. “I laid off the curve ball this weekend. That’s something I’ve been working on in practice.”
The Aggies begin a home series Friday at 5 p.m. against Weber State at Max Johnson field in Providence.
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