Utah State baseball team gets first win

The Utah State University baseball team collected its first win of the season at home on Tuesday behind a 9-run fifth inning.

Utah State defeated the University of Wyoming Cowboys 12-1.

The Aggies were 0-11 on the season before the win — their worst start in the last eight years.

Utah State held a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Shortstop Mike Woodland led off the inning with a single. The Wyoming infield mishandled a bunt by outfielder Kyle King, allowing Woodland to advance bases. The Cowboys then mishandled another bunt by third baseman Taylor Stauffer and the Aggies took control of the game.

“The whole year our defense has played well,” said Brad Singer, head coach of the baseball team. “Our offense was struggling the last two weeks.”

The Aggies batted 16-30, including four extra-base hits, in Tuesday’s game. The team batting average was only .215 going into the game.

Switching from wooden bats to metal bats made a big difference for the team, said second baseman Gentry Houghton, who was 1-4 at bat with an RBI.

“You get a lot more pop on the ball with the metal bats,” Houghton said.

The team used smart base-running and timely hits to take advantage of the Wyoming mistakes, Singer said.

Playing at home also made a difference for the Aggies, Houghton said.

“Our mindset was a lot different,” he said. “Everyone was going crazy before the game.”

Colton Draney pitched six scoreless innings with four strikeouts in the win, while allowing five hits and one walk. Stauffer batted 3-4 in the game, with four RBIs and two runs scored.

— thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu

Twitter: @tomcat340