After seven long innings, the game came to an end as the Cougs lost 18-8 to Utah Tech on April 15 with a walk-off double to center field. WSU pitching did not go so great as they allowed 18 earned runs off eleven hits. The Cougs pitching staff walked eleven batters, clogging up the base path to leave the bases loaded for seven hitters. Two of these hitters walked in a run with the third batter smashing one out of the park for a grand slam, and a fourth one hitting a double to end the game.
Moving on from the disappointing pitching performance, Wazzu was able to score eight runs of their own. Senior infielder Gavin Roy crushed his first home run of the year to put two runs on the board for the Cougs in the top of the third. Next up in the fourth, sophomore infielder Kyler Northrop hit a double to left field to tally another two runs.
The bats would go silent for a few innings until the seventh with a rally came together to bring the Cougs out of position from being mercied. With bases loaded and two outs, freshman catcher Alexandre Giguére hit a single up the middle to add another two runs to the board.
After Utah Tech brought in a new pitcher to the mound, junior catcher Cam Macleod came in to pinch hit for Northrop with runners on first and second. Macleod hit a triple off the right field wall, emptying the bases and bringing the Cougs deficit to eight.
Unfortunately, this is where the Cougs’ scoring came to a halt as Utah Tech forced the bases loaded and proceeded to hit a walk-off double, handing the Cougs their 18th loss of the season.
Many Cougs were able to extend their hitting and on base streaks, like Roy extending his on-base streak to 24 games from his two-run homer in the third and hitting streak to six games. Skjonsby and Northrop also extended their hitting streaks to six games as well.
Next up for the Cougs on their road trip will be heading over to Las Vegas, Nevada for a three-game series against UNLV April 17-19 as they hope to flush this game and bounce back for a series win in the Mountain West conference.
