WSU duked it out with San Jose State for the first time last weekend, and boy was it a doozy. A boxing match in game one, a nail-biting thriller in game two and a convincing 6-3 win in game three made up the 2-1 series win for WSU in their fourth conference showdown. 

There is quite a bit to learn from this past series. Only four earned runs in relief, eight hits per game and a catcher standing out behind the dish. That is just a taste of what came out of the Cougs’ series win over the Spartans. 

So, with the Cougs getting ready to take on Gardner Webb this coming weekend, what exactly did we learn from their showdown with the Spartans…

Getting “Giggy” with it 

Noah Thein may have gotten the start in game one, but after a pair of strikeouts, it was freshman Alexandre Giguere who took the reins. 

In his eight at bats, the freshman from Quebec rang up four hits and four RBIs. Those four hits included one double and one triple.

While his overall stats this year are less than impressive, considering only 18 games played, Giguere has shown flashes of greatness all year. A 1.071 OPS partnered with three home runs and 11 RBIs shows both the clutch and power factor that Giguere can bring. 

While the Cougs will undoubtedly lean on Thein and Cam Macleod throughout the year, I would highly recommend giving Giguere the wheel as much as possible. The more reps he gets, the faster he fills Will Cresswell’s shoes… or transfers away…

Pitchers… take a bow 

Typically in this series, I call out one end of the bullpen for struggling and the other for excelling. However, both sides of the bullpen shined this week. So, I have nothing but kudos to hand out. 

Griffin Smith, for starters, deserves as much praise as possible. The senior went 8 ⅓ innings in game two allowing only three runs off six hits and no walks. 

Then, in game three, you had Luke Meyers spin six innings of two-run baseball.

However, it was not just the starters who stood out. Relief men allowed only four runs in the series. That’s right, the relief staff that has notoriously imploded game after game was finally able to close out a series.

The one blemish was game one of the series where the Cougs allowed eight runs. Three of those came off the arm of August Richie in relief. 

Take away that game and you have two stellar performances from the Cougar arms. If they can keep their stride into the remainder of conference play, then the Cougs will be in a good spot when the conference tournament approaches. 

The Cougar bats got put in the freezer 

It was not until game three that WSU recorded double-digit hits. In their first two tangos with the Spartans, they tallied six and seven hits respectively. 

What stands out more are the individual performances. Gavin Roy and Matt Priest, who were red-hot coming into the series, combined for only four hits and three RBIs. The Cougs also struck out 25 times this weekend, kicked off with a 13-strikeout performance in game one.

Essentially, the Coug bats got cold… very very cold. While they still managed to sneak out the pair of wins, that was mainly due to the stunning pitching performances. 

In the Mountain West Conference, the Cougs are one of the weakest hitting teams in conference play. While they do lead the conference for doubles (26) as well as triples (9), they are fifth for RBIs (69), dead last for home runs (3), second to last for slugging percentage (.411) and first place in the conference for strikeouts (96). 

In order for the Cougs to take advantage of their fourth place position in the conference, they will need to turn things around at the plate. Whether that is shaving down the strikeouts, tapping into the longball, or finally clutching up with runners in scoring position, the Cougs are just a few quality at-bats away from breaking into the top three teams in the conference.