Cougs fall in midweek game at Utah
The Cougars’ Alexandre Giguere jogs across the field during their game against Utah Tuesday afternoon. Giguere's single in the fifth extended his on-base streak to seven games.
COURTESY PHOTO/WSU ATHLETICS
SALT LAKE CITY — The Washington State Cougars (7-12) fell short to Utah 8-5 on Tuesday after an unsuccessful late push by WSU.
According to WSU Athletics, Trevor Smith had three hits and reached base all five plate appearances, Matt Priest recorded his first career three-hit game and Max Hartman added two hits. The Cougars took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth before the Utes scored four times in the fifth to take the lead. WSU got within one after a run in the eighth before Utah added two more in the bottom half. From there, WSU was held scoreless at the top of the ninth to help Utah secure the win.
WSU used nine pitchers on a staff day but left 11 runners on base.
Cougar starter Brock Blatter made his WSU debut, struck out the first batter he faced and posted a scoreless first inning.
Smith pulled a double to right field in the third inning and scored after Gavin Roy lined an RBI-single back up the middle for a 1-0 Cougar lead. Utah used a pair of doubles to the game in the fourth, but WSU answered right back in the fifth inning as Smith's line an RBI-single to right field and Kyler Northrop scored on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the fifth, Utah used a pair of walks, four hits and a Cougar error to score four runs and take a 5-3 lead. WSU answered Utah's sixth-inning run with a seventh-inning Priest RBI-triple down the right field line.
Erik Rodriguez ended the sixth with a 4-6-3 double play and struck out two in a perfect seventh inning. WSU made it a one-run game with Roy's RBI-groundout in the eighth and the Cougars threatened with runners on second and third but the Utah bullpen ended the rally with a deep flyout to right field.
Utah tacked on two more runs in the eighth to build an 8-5 advantage.
According to Utah Athletics, Utah finished with 11 hits, including a pair apiece from the top four spots in the batting order: Luke Jacobs, Jake Long, Daniel Arambula and Cameron Gurney. The evening saw Gurney reach the 100-hit milestone for his career at Utah while Gurney drove in two runs as well. Jacobs scored three times in the win.
Long extended his hitting streak to 13 straight games while Gurney (11) and Arambula (10) are now in double-digit runs. Jacobs tripled to the gap in left field and also had a deep fly ball skip over the wall in right-center for a ground-rule double.
Overall for the night, Utah was 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
For the Cougs, several players contributed to the team’s effort despite the loss, according to their statement.
Smith singled to lead off the game, extending his on-base streak to 17 games. Gavin Roy's RBI single in the third extended his hitting streak to six games. Taber Fast worked a scoreless second inning. Trevor Stowe struck out the side in the third inning. Alexandre Giguere's single in the fifth extended his on-base streak to seven games. Ollie Obenour started at third base after missing the last 13 games, walked and scored. Rodriguez worked one and a quarter scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
The Cougars return home Friday at 4:05 p.m. to host Grand Canyon University for a three-game series set to span over the weekend.
BOX SCORE:
WSU: 0-0-1-0-2-0-1-1-0: 5
UTAH: 0-0-0-1-4-1-0-2-*: 8