Freshman pitcher Joe Pond got his chance to show off his repertoire as a starter in his second start of the year, but all he showed was his youth.
Utah hosted No. 3 in the Pac 10, Washington State, in a midweek contest Tuesday evening. The Utes continued their struggles picking up a 13-8 loss, their 10th straight.
“We need somebody to step up and give us that boost we need for us to come out on top,” Corey Shimada said. “It’s everywhere, offensively, defensively and pitching. In later innings we need to come together as a team and pick each other up.”
Both teams put on a hitting clinic in the first seven innings of play as the pitchers had a rough go on the mound. Utah was stagnant after the sixth inning, while the Cougars kept their hitting prowess moving.
The young Pond only saw 3.2 innings of action on the bump as he struggled against a powerful offense line-up. WSU had its way with Pond early in the game. The freshman was pulled in the fourth inning after giving up seven runs on 10 hits.
The Cougars weren’t the only team to light up the starting pitcher. WSU also had a freshman starter on the mound, Spencer Jackson. After the defense behind him gave up two errors to start the game, Jackson allowed the Utes to have their way, taking a 2-1 lead after the first on one hit.
“We kind of took advantage of their five errors in the first few innings,” Shimada said.
A lot of action on offense in the third and fourth innings would be the demise of the freshmen starters. Jackson was pulled after 3.2 innings on the mound after giving up five runs, five hits and the score tied at 7-7.
Utah had a chance to win this game. At 7-7 at the start of the seventh inning, it looked like it would be a close game down the stretch.
Bennet Askew, who came in for Pond in the fourth, pitched two solid innings in middle relief, during which he had six strikeouts. After a strikeout to start the top of the seventh inning, it started to turn sour for Askew.
In the blink of an eye he gave up a walk, an RBI triple for the go-ahead run 8-7 and then an RBI single, giving the Cougars a two-run cushion at 9-7.
“Askew did very well tonight,” Nick Kuroczko said. “He did very well tonight, and held us together in the middle relief and that’s great need to keep seeing that.”
The bullpen continued to struggle from there. Robert Chimpky came in to relieve Askew of his duties, but didn’t do much of that. Chimpky started out with two wild pitches to advance the runner from first around to third. He walked the first two batters he faced, then gave up a two-RBI single to the third batter up.
Another walk to load the bases and two RBI singles would be the end of Chimpky’s night, with WSU leading 13-7.
“We gave up six runs,” said coach Bill Kinnenberg. “Didn’t hold them down, Bennett probably got a little tired and Chimpky came in and gave up.”
A few rallies in the bottom of the eighth and ninth wouldn’t be enough for Utah to get back in the game.
The Utes and Cougars face off again tonight at six.
Tyler CobbU pitcher Tyler Andersen had two strikeouts in relief in the Utes? game against Washington State on Tuesday night. However, the Cougars beat the Utes 13-8.