What they’ve all been waiting for
With the biggest games of the season looming, CSU baseball took
care of business against an overmatched Western State College team
at home over the weekend.
Playing a doubleheader on Saturday, the Rams wasted little time
in sweeping WSC, a team that remains winless for the season, taking
games 1 and 2 by a combined 21-0 score in 10 innings of play. On
Sunday the Rams won again in dominant fashion 11-0.
The 10-run rule came into effect in the fifth inning of
Saturday’s opening game, an 11-0 win, and again in the fifth inning
of Game 2 of the three-game series, a 10-0 win.
“It can be difficult to stay focused when you’re playing against
a team you know you should beat on paper,” said CSU head coach
Frank Rodriguez, whose team remains undefeated against club teams
this season. “We just have to play every team like we would at the
national tournament.”
With the series sweep against Western, the Rams can now focus on
their most important games of the regular season: a three-game home
set with the Colorado Buffaloes.
“They are very important games for us,” said junior pitcher Matt
Wingate, who pitched five shutout innings in Game 1 on Saturday and
is set to start against CU. “Essentially we are the only two
undefeated teams in the conference so whoever wins two out of three
goes to the national tournament.”
If Wingate and the rest of the pitching staff can control their
pitches like they did against Western, the Rams should have a good
chance of taking two-of-three from CU, Rodriguez said.
“I liked how our pitcher pitched (Saturday),” Rodriguez said.
“We stayed ahead in the count, didn’t give up a run; our guys were
hitting their spots while using all their pitches.”
Offensively another solid day from Dane Griffin, similar to the
one he had Saturday, could go a long way to assuring a series win
against the Buffaloes. In Saturday’s doubleheader, the sophomore
just missed hitting for the cycle, as he went 3-for-5 with five
RBIs while rapping a triple, double and single.
“I was just trying to go out there and get some hits,” said
Griffin, who was substituted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom half
of the fifth while needing only a home run to complete the
cycle.
With the Buffs on deck and with the postseason on the line,
Rodriguez said he expects his team to be physically and emotionally
ready this weekend.
“Whether it’s in football, baseball or basketball, it’s a
rivalry,” Rodriguez said. “With what this means, I know our guys
will be pumped and ready to go. It’s a huge weekend for us anyway,
it only adds to it that (the opponent) happens to be the
Buffs.”
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