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Show Monday, Sept. 28, 2009 StatesmanSports Page 11 CLUB BASEBALL Ags split weekend doubleheader By DAN FAWSON staff writer Game 1: The Utah State club baseball team had been plagued by slow starts all season, but Friday’s doubleheader saw the Aggies finally breakthrough. Brad Singer and Erik Swensen led a spirited offensive charge, helping the Aggies put four first inning runs on the board en route to a 5-2 victory over the Idaho State Bengals. Second baseman Brady Sayama led off the first inning with a double off the wall, and outfielder Kelden Petersen, who coaches said has a knack for getting on base, followed with one of two drag-bunt base hits he provided during the game. Singer then gave the Aggies an early lead they would never relinquish when he brought both home on a two-run RBI single. Swensen kept the early rally going with an RBI double off the wall, and the Aggies effectively seized momentum for the rest of the game. The early runs were a welcome sight for an Aggie offense which, despite its improved performance in last week’s series against the Mavericks, had struggled finding consistency from start to finish. “Everybody hit the ball well,” Singer said of the team’s first inning performance. Swensen, a graduate student at USU, continues to impress at the plate after bursting onto the seen last week with three home runs in four games against Gate City. USU head coach Brett Alamari said last week that he believes Swensen will become the run-producing bat the team has lacked in the middle of the lineup, and the first baseman did little Friday to dissuade Al-amari’s prediction. The early lead provided more than enough run support for Aggie pitching ace Ryan Doyle, who’s continued steady dominance on the mound may have gone relatively unnoticed in the light of the Aggies’ offensive success. Coming off a spring season in which he earned all-conference honors and led the nation in innings pitched, Doyle has gone the distance in each of this three starts this season and is yet to surrender more than two runs in an outing. Game 2: The second game of the Aggies Friday doubleheader served as a reminder for why club baseball has a fall season. Using a lineup consisting primarily of backups and newcomers, the Aggies followed up a solid game-one victory with a frustrating 12-7 loss to Idaho State. The fall season serves as a barometer for Al-amari and his fellow club baseball head coaches to gauge the ability of newcomers and inexperienced players as they try to figure out what they will have at their disposal come spring. Al-amari has used a game in each weekend series of the fall season to play a primarily inexperienced lineup, each time having sloppy, inefficient results to show for it and Friday was no different. An error filled fourth inning saw Utah State squander an early 2-1 lead, as they gave up seven runs to a Bengals offense, which had been rendered ineffective for the previous game and a half. The meltdown gave momentum to Idaho State and essentially ended any hopes of an Aggie sweep. The Aggie bats started out strong for the second game in a row, something the team had struggled to do the previous two weeks, but the continued offensive improvement wasn’t enough to offset the team’s mental errors. “Errors cost us in that game,” Singer said. “Some people were out of position.” Singer and Gavin Johnson were a couple of the Aggie regulars who saw action in the loss, and both served to lead the charge at the plate. Johnson hit two doubles, and Singer led off the game with a double of his own. Singer, despite the team’s frustrating loss, was an unquestioned offensive bright spot during Friday’s two games, continuing his hot start to the fall season. Asked why he has been successful at the plate while so many of his teammates have struggled finding offensive consistency early in the season, Singer said he has benefited from a non-stop playing schedule dating back to early spring. “Consistency comes from playing baseball,” Singer said. “I have been playing baseball consistently since February or March.” Singer also said his aggressive approach at the plate helps him out a lot. “I don’t strike out much,” he said. “If the first pitch is good I take my shot. I just have that hitter’s mentality that he (the opposing pitcher) isn’t better than me, and he’s not getting me out.” After playing their last four games on the road, the Aggies return home this weekend for a three-game series with the Gate City Mavericks. – majerusforpresident@yahoo.com GET LOST! GET LOST! 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Group2850 Discounts Available N 100 E www.greencanyonfarms.com 435-770-7547 Next to Eccles Ice N Arena 2850 100offE Main Street Turn by Nate’s & Andy’s 435-770-7547 Next$1 to Eccles Main 1 Street OFF Ice Arena Buyoff 1 Get FREE only by Nate’s &Monday-Thursday Andy’s with thisTurn coupon not valid with any other offer $1 OFF with this coupon not valid with any other offer not valid with any other offer September 30 Buyexpires 1 Get 1 FREE Monday-Thursday only not valid with any other offer expires September 30 MEN’S TENNIS USU places well in opener By MATT SONNENBERG staff writer USU’s men’s tennis team got its first taste of competition over the weekend as it hosted the Utah State Open tournament at the new outdoor tennis courts on the USU campus. The Aggies got off to a fast start to their season with eight of the team’s nine members advancing past the opening round of 32. The tournament was highlighted by sophomore Nate Ballam and senior Amit Maharaj, both of who won their opening matches in straight sets by finals of 6-0, 6-0. Another USU player, freshman Sven Poslusny had a more difficult route to the round of 16 as he lost the opening set of his first round match against Boise State’s Nick Gourley 1-6. Poslusny bounced back strong to take the second and third sets by finals of 6-2 and 6-3 to advance. The first thing that stood out to USU head coach Christian Wright was that he saw a lot of good matches from his players during the weekend tournament. “I think that physically we’re in pretty good shape,” Wright said. “We look pretty quick around the courts.” Wright attributed much of the weekend’s success to how his team worked to prepare for their its real competition of the year. “The effort’s been really good in practice,” Wright said. “The focus has been good.” In the round of 16, two pairs of Aggie teammates were matched up against each other with Poslusny defeating Ballam 62, 7-6, and junior Bryan Marchant beating freshman Jose Limon 6-2, 6-3. USU junior Jakob Asplund defeated Weber State’s Spencer Marchant in straight sets 6-1, 6-0, while fellow junior Nikita Ryashchenko beat Utah’s Jason Smits 6-3, 6-1 to round out the foursome of Aggies to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinal round. Among those four Aggies to advance to the quarterfinals, only Marchant advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament with is 7-5, 6-4 victory over teammate Poslusny. Marchant continued his bid for a tournament championship by defeating Weber State’s Sascha Kiehne in a three-set match (6-2, 2-6, 6-3) to set up a meeting with another Weber State player, Simon Unger, in the singles championship round. Marchant opened up the championship match by winning the first set 6-2 before eventually falling 6-1, 6-2 in the second and third sets to give Unger the tournament championship in singles play. “I’m really encouraged by what I, and we, are seeing as coaches,” Wright said. “I really like this team. They’re a very hardworking team, they’re coachable and it’s just little things that we’re going to have to tweak over the next coming days and weeks getting ready for these next couple tournaments.” While the Aggies excelled in singles play over the weekend, they had a strong showing in doubles matches as well. Two of USU’s doubles teams advanced as far as the semifinals of the tournament where those two teams then met. In that meeting, the duo of Asplund and Marchant defeated Ballam and Maharaj in an 8-3 final. The 8-3 margin was the same by which Asplund and Marchant eventually fell when they were defeated in the doubles championship round by Weber State’s Unger and Jared Burnham. One of the things Wright said his team needs to continue to work on is how they performed on key points during matches. “Sometimes we’ve played real well, others we could make adjustments, so that’s the main thing we’re looking for is just where do we need to spend more time and where are we doing okay,” Wright said. The Aggie men have the next two weekends free from competition as they prepare for the Utah Invitational tournament that will be held in Salt Lake City starting Oct. 14. – matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu MEN’S SOCCER Aggies upset No. 2 Weber State By STEVEN CLARK staff writer USU went into last Saturday’s soccer game against Weber State – which was No. 2 in the region – knowing that it wouldn’t be an easy match. This was a game where tempers flared, unflattering words were exchanged and many yellow cards where handed out, but eventually cooler heads prevailed. Utah State was able to rise above Weber State and finish the game with an extremely hardfought victory, 3-2. “We kept our composure,” USU head coach Morgan Carlson said. “We got down early but we continued to play our game. We had some finishing woes as well, but once we got settled down the goals started to come. It’s a lot harder when you play like you have to have a goal.” The Aggies struggled early on, starting with a quick goal by Weber State to start the game, along with a lot of missed opportunities to score. A whiff on a shot less than 10 feet out from the goal, a few rushed shots that sailed into the parking lot and a miss on a well-designed play on a free kick were a few of the Aggies finishing woes that Carlson referred to. “We could not finish at all at the beginning of the game, but once we got the lid off the net, things started go our way,” Vic Carlson said. “This is a big win for us. It’s just getting us ready for region. I think we’re peaking at the right time.” The biggest story of the game came from the amounts of yellow cards that were being handed out. In the first half alone, five yellow cards were distributed. There were a total of nine yellow cards and one red card ejection of a Weber State player who slugged a Utah State defenseman that had stolen the ball from him. Danny Fonseca, one of the team’s captains, said that the cards were a little unnecessary and kind of allowed things to get out of hand. The game started with a quick score from Weber State within the first five minutes of the game. That lead was held for the remainder of the first half because of missed opportunities by Utah State. However, the ball was kept on Weber State’s half of the field for the majority of the game. The momentum did not shift in favor of the Aggies until a quarter of the way through the second half when Vic Carlson scored USU’s first goal. Shortly after that ball sneaked passed the goalie, Dave Firmage squeaked another one by not more than 45 seconds later. Utah State held onto the lead for a good portion of the second half until Weber State nailed another goal off a free kick. The game remained tied until about two minutes left in regulation when the Aggies punched in another goal that deflated Weber State’s hopes of leaving Logan with a win. “We beat them in all aspects of the game today,” coach Carlson said. Overall, Saturday’s win was a chance for USU to show the other teams that they are going to make a lot of noise this year in region. – steve.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu Shesays, says, ‘A“Onion h, Can I getGarlic Your He Friend’s phoneWhy? number? Burger, She says, ‘A Friend’s p Submitted by Holly Pennse Marianne Poulson |