Greetings from the press box at an arctic Bailey-Brayton Field. Today, the Washington State University Men’s Baseball Team takes on the UCSB Gauchos in a non-conference double header. The Cougs won the first game of the series 5-1 earlier today, as Adam Conley threw a six masterful innings en route to picking up his second victory of the season. The Cougar lineup didn’t let the frigid temperatures affect them in their winning effort. Multiple players made key contributions on the type of day where hits generally come at a premium. Click on the jump for a full recap of today’s action and a preview of some of this season’s major contributors.
Game 1 Recap:
– Adam Conley did his best Cliff Lee impersonation while stifling a relatively potent Guacho lineup. The junior south-paw worked quickly and yielded just two hits and no runs in a performance that demonstrated his electric fastball. Conley struck out nine and never had to work out of any jams. His control looked good, he consistently stayed ahead of hitters and the absolutely horrific weather didn’t seem to affect him. For any Cougar baseball fans out there, I highly recommend making the trip to the Palouse to see this kid throw. With his arsenal of pitches, it isn’t likely that he will stick around for his senior season.
– Sophomore left-hander Richie Ochoa looked almost as impressive as Conley in three innings of work. Ochoa struck out four and gave up just one meaningless solo home run in the top of the 9th inning. He will likely settle in as this team’s closer if he continues to perform like he did Saturday afternoon.
– At the plate, Matt Argyropoulos picked up two hits and lined a solo home run to left that nearly skidded over the wall in the today’s first game. Also, freshman left fielder Jason Monda looked good at the plate while lining a clutch double late in the game and punching a low and away fastball into left field in the second inning. The top 3 hitters in the Cougar lineup went a combined 0-10. However, I’d chalk that up to Brett Jacobs, Cody Bartlett and Derek Jones still trying to find some rhythm at the plate in record low temperatures. All three guys had much better AB’s in the second half of the double-header.
Game 2 Recap: (7 innings)
As I write this post, the Cougs hold a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the 6th inning. Monda just made an unbelievable diving catch in left field with two outs and runners on second and third base to end the top of the 6th inning. Wise looked relatively sharp in five innings of work and is on track to pick up the victory if the Cougar bullpen can hold onto their two run lead. Barlett broke out of his early season funk with a bases loaded double that drove in 3 runs, giving the Cougs an early 4-3 lead. Brett Jacobs also picked up where he left off from in 2009, lining a double down the right field line in the 3rd inning. First basemen Taylor Ard, who I ran a profile on earlier this week that you can read here: http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/33907, is just 1-7 on the day. However, he too broke out of his funk with a clutch RBI single to give the Cougs a 6-3 lead. Ard’s combination of power and speed is a perfect fit for the three spot in the Cougars batting order. Boasting over 220 pounds of muscle, Ard can still flat-out run.
Seeing the Cougars for the first time in-person this season certainly left me impressed. The only thing more enjoyable than sitting in Bailey-Brayton’s brand new heated press box was seeing guys like Cody Bartlett and Adam Conley perform admirably. After talking to Donnie Marbut and a few of the players this week, it’s clear this team expects to make a run at the 2011 College World Series. From what I saw today, I certainly don’t see any reason to doubt them. Check Brett Gleason’s WSU Baseball Blog for a full recap of today’s action.
Go Cougs!
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