WSU baseball made the trek down to Reno, Nev., last weekend to take on the Wolf Pack after sweeping SDSU in three games of conference play. The momentum from the SDSU series did not carry into the Nevada series as the Cougs lost all three games, dropping to a 4-5 conference record.
The series loss can be attributed in large part to an apparent lack of hitting from up and down the Cougar lineup. Junior Max Hartman, who had a 17-game hit streak coming out of the SDSU series, went 1-for-13 in Nevada and did not get his first hit of the series until the final game. Freshman Ollie Obenour went hitless in the series, the only member of the lineup to not record a hit. Junior Logan Johnstone recorded no hits through the first two games but made up for the deficit by going 4-for-4 in game three.
The most glaring stat to come out of the weekend was the 20 runners left on base in the series. The team batting average for the Cougs has dropped to 0.288, ranking fourth in the Mountain West.
The pitching staff for the Cougs tried their hardest to slow down a dominant Nevada hitting squad, who are second in the conference in batting average, second in doubles and first in home runs. The Wolf Pack hit four homers in game one, four in game two and three in game three. Out of the 24 earned runs allowed over the weekend, Cougar starting pitchers accounted for 13 and relief men tallied 11. All in all, WSU pitchers did the best they could against a red-hot Nevada team.
The Cougs headed north to Spokane Tuesday to play against Gonzaga in a tune-up game. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead with a five-run first inning as Gonzaga pounded WSU starter Jake Robinson with each run being produced by a different Bulldog batter. The Cougs would quickly mount a comeback, scoring runs in the third, fourth, sixth and eighth innings while holding Gonzaga scoreless after the explosive first inning. The game was tied 5-5 after nine innings thanks to the Cougs’ comeback.
Designated hitter Ricco Longo delivered a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning to give WSU a 7-5 lead. Gonzaga gave WSU a scare in the bottom of the inning with a lead-off solo homer by first basemen Tommy Eisenstat but relief pitcher Rylan Haider closed out the inning with a pair of ground outs and an out on fielder’s choice. Haider pitched the final two innings and was credited with the win.
After escaping Spokane with a tough win, WSU returns to conference play, starting a three-game series against San Jose State on April 4 that will run through Spring Family Weekend. The Cougars will look to get their conference record back on track and fix a few key issues.
Hartman led the team in batting average for much of the season and has since dropped to second on the team at 0.346. Hartman has been at the heart of games where the Cougs have dominated at the plate. When he swings a hot bat, so does the rest of the squad. Picking up hits against San Jose could lead the rest of the Cougar bats to be productive as well.
The Cougar defense have the fourth most errors in the conference at 37 and had six blunders during the Nevada series. The Cougs will look to produce three games of clean baseball against the Spartans this weekend so the pitching staff can do their job and limit the damage.
WSU will have to get to the SJSU starting pitchers early and often. The Spartans lead the conference in team ERA at 4.50, making them one of the toughest pitching teams the Cougars will face in the conference all season. The Cougs could benefit from quality at-bats from every member of their lineup to drive up pitch counts and force SJSU to dip into their bullpen early on in the three games.
The series will open at 4:05 p.m. Friday at Bailey-Brayton Field.
