The Cougs spent this weekend in Long Beach, California and came out of the golden state with a 2-2 series split against BYU and Long Beach State. Despite dropping the first two matchups to BYU, the Cougs rallied back in the second half of the weekend, winning both games against the Dirtbags. 

The series split revealed a lot about this Cougar squad. 34 hits, only 19 earned runs and a whopping 27 drawn walks over the four game weekend was just the tip of the iceberg. 

So, let’s look at what Coug fans should take away from these four games of Cougar baseball… 

 

Trevor Smith needs some support 

The standout Coug from the weekend was, without a doubt, freshman Trevor Smith. The switch hitting center fielder had seven total hits on the weekend and was all over the basepaths in the series. 

In the third game, Smith had a single, double and a triple. This put him just a home run away from the cycle. 

However, he was left on base nine times on the weekend. That is nine runs left on the table due to his teammates coming up short at the plate. 

Smith has been hitting in the leadoff spot all season thus far. This is mainly due to his .302 average, .434 on-base percentage, 13 hits, seven runs scored, three doubles and 0.853 OPS. 

However, with Smith getting left on base repeatedly, it may be time to shake up the batting order. Perhaps putting him in the two-hole, or moving him down further into the five or six-hole will allow him to drive in more runs and make the most of his production. 

 

Relief pitching has an identity crisis

This Coug relief staff may be the most confusing group of baseball players on the planet. In game one, Luke Meyers spun seven innings of one-run baseball, just for the relief men to give up five runs. Three of those runs came in the ninth inning allowing BYU to take a 6-4 win. 

Then, in game two, Taber Fast gave up a ninth inning RBI double to hand BYU a walkoff 5-4 win. Basically, relief pitching cost the Cougs a pair of wins in the first two games. 

However, in game three, the pitching staff was lights out. Despite starting pitcher Gavin Derr giving up three runs on 2 ⅔ innings, the proceeding four relief men only allowed one earned run. That run came in the eighth when WSU had an 8-4 lead, making it a low danger tally. 

The relief men also whiffed eight batters while only conceding two walks. That ratio shows just how dominant they were in game three. 

However, in game four, the staff slid back to their old ways. They gave up three earned runs off four hits, three walks and only two strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings of work. Lucky for them, WSU hit the ball well and snuck out the 9-7 win. 

This has been the story of the Coug relief staff all season. They piece together a great game once in a series and then fall asleep at the wheel.

Given that the conference schedule is only one series away, head coach Nathan Choate is running out of time to find his go-to relievers. If the Cougs want to get their first series win of the season, they need to get back-to-back good relief outings from their bullpen.

 

Put Noah Thein behind the dish 

In the early season, WSU has been auditioning three faces behind the plate. Cam Macleod, Alexandre Giguère and Noah Thein. After this series in Long Beach, Thein may have won the spot. 

Macleod and Giguère both got starts in the first two games of the series and both were underwhelming. Macleod went 0-for-4 in game one, and Giguère went 1-for-2 before getting pinch hit for in game two. 

Thein really had the best performance of the weekend, all without getting a single hit. While he may have gone 0-for-3, he drew two walks and was hit by a pitch twice as well. He also scored three runs in game three, meaning he was on base numerous times allowing his teammates to drive him in again and again. 

Additionally, Thein is a spark plug. No matter who was on the bump, he was continually hyping them up pitch after pitch and strikeout after strikeout. When he drew walks or got hit by pitches he was hyping up the dugout and keeping the vibes high.

With a .222 average and only two hits on the year, it may seem weird to argue that Thein should be the starter. But, his personality, vibes and chemistry with the team might just be what this Cougar squad needs to find their stride. 

 

WSU will head back on the road to play against Texas State University for a four game series starting on Thursday March 5 and ending on Sunday March 8. Their first Mountain West Conference Series will be immediately after that, starting against San Diego State on March 13 and ending on March 15 in San Diego.