WSU Baseball Coming Around in Pac-12 But Loss to Gonzaga Stings

Last time we talked about Cougar basesball (a couple weeks ago), we stressed how important it was for the Cougs to win soon if they wanted to challenge for post-season play. In baseball, it’s all about pitching and winning series’, and both have been strong points as of late with the Cougs winning 5 of the last 8. But it’s that 8th one, the loss to the Zags that hurts. First, let’s go back and recap what led up to it…

Last week the Cougs had a chance to secure a sweep of Seattle, but couldn’t pull out a rally late in game 3. No problem though, crushing Portland on the road four days later 10-0 was a good bounce back and set up for the Utah series at home, which basically marked the beginning of the second half of the season. The Cougs could also have pulled a sweep out of that series after dominating pitching in games 1 and 3, but let game 2 slip through their fingers after Utah squashed the crimson rally towels in the bottom of the 9th with a tremendous double play and hit a home run in their frame of the 10th. And that’s where tonight comes in.

After leading 3-0 for the second time against the Zags, the Cougs again fell apart and allowed Gonzaga to take over and finish the game 7-1. Two words: Blown opportunity! Gonzaga is now ranked #30 and adding a fourth win against top #35 competition would have been a great jolt of confidence, not to mention a nice momentum builder on the road before heading to Eugene to face the Ducks in a few days. To me, a win tonight would have meant that WSU could win one against Oregon and then beat Seattle and keep the momentum rolling. But now, I feel as if anything less than 2 out of 3 at UO is a big let down, and unless we sweep that series, the Seattle game becomes a must win.

After that we’re in the stretch run and 7 in a row at home will make or break the season. Here’s to the Cougs catching fire and manhandling Oregon before coming home to a nice Bailey-Brayton crowd. We’ll be back soon to keep in touch with our Cougar Baseball Team as they fight for post-season position in the Pac.

Go Cougs!