It’s All WSU In 20-1 Rout Of Brown
By Lew Wright
Sunday afternoon on the Palouse was ideal for enjoying a college baseball game. Clear skies and mild temperatures are the hallmarks of springtime in Pullman. But enough about the weather. How about those Cougs?
For the third game in a row the Washington State Cougars (14-8) played outstanding baseball. Great pitching, timely hitting and great defense were too much for Brown (1-9). The shellacking of the Bears this time around resulted in a final score of 20-1.
"“It starts on the mound and once again we got a solid performance,” Cougar Coach Donnie Marbut said. “Offensively, we have had some pitches to hit in the series and our guys haven’t missed them.”"
Big sophomore right-hander Scott Simon (2-0) started and was sharp, giving up just one run in 7-innings of work. Brown managed just 6-hits while Simon fanned 5.
“Once again Scotty gave us another quality start which is what Joe (Pistorese) and Tanner (Chelborad) gave us (in the first two games of the series),” praised Coach Marbut after the game. “If (pitching) starts there, good things can happen.”
The game didn’t get out of hand until the bottom of the 8th when the Cougs tacked on a touchdown and two-point conversion for a snowman on the scorecard while making the most of Bear errors and five hits. Jason Monda delivered the big blow with a grand slam homerun to right field.
WSU has simply dominated Brown pitching over the past three days. “The guys are staying in and they’re not giving away at-bats”, explained Marbut. “That’s important because when you give away an at-bat here…that goes to the next day sometimes.”
When this contest mercifully came to an end a glance at the scoreboard showed the Cougs were able to tally 20-runs on just 18-hits. Half of those knocks were for extra-bases.
There will be a fourth game with Brown which will be played Monday evening starting at 6pm on the turf of Bailey-Brayton Field. Once again the Pac-12 Network will offer a live stream online of all the action.
Given the nature of the lopsided scores in the first three games, will the Cougs be ready to play solid ball once again Monday?
"“Good teams, they show up to play every day, anytime, anyplace, anywhere and we haven’t done that yet. We have not proved that we will show up at all games.” – Coach Donnie Marbut"
Monday will provide a yardstick to measure just how far this squad has developed with focus on a Pac-12 Championship.
Jason Monda will get his first collegiate start. Monda asked Coach Marbut for the chance to pitch this season and has seen action as a setup reliever. In six appearances he’s yet to allow an earned run and has fanned 9 opponents in 8-innings of work.
GO COUGS!!!
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WASHINGTON STATE NOTES
– A baker’s dozen Cougars recorded at least one hit
– 16 WSU players scored a run and 10 collected an RBI
– P.J. Jones tied his career high with three hits
– Patrick McGrath doubled for his first-career, extra-base hit
– Jason Monda’s five RBI for the game set a career high
– Washington State has outscored Brown 42-3 in the first three games of this series