Cottrell, Smith Lead WSU to Series Sweep over Utah Valley
PULLMAN, Wash. (May 8, 2022) – Washington State starting pitcher McKabe Cottrell fired seven shutout innings and Jack Smith recorded his second-straight four-hit game as the Cougars finished off a series sweep with an 11-0 win over Utah Valley at Bailey-Brayton Field Sunday afternoon.
WSU (22-23) collected 16 hits and saw five players record multiple-hit games to clinch their third straight series win. Jack Smith notched his second-straight four-hit game, Bryce Matthews had three hits and scored three times, Elijah Hainline had a pair of RBI-singles, Kodie Kolden hit a three-run homer and Jacob McKeon also homered. Cottrell earned the win after allowing just two hits and struck out a career-high nine in seven scoreless innings.
Utah Valley dropped to 16-31 overall after allowing two runs in the first inning and WSU pulled away with two runs in the sixth and four in the eighth.
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the first inning, Kolden was hit by a pitch to lead off the game and Matthews followed with a double to right field. McKeon followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Kolden and Smith added a check-swing slow-roller RBI-single to third base for a 2-0 lead.
In the third, Matthews led off the inning with a single into centerfield, stole second and came around to score on a Justin Van De Brake RBI-single through the left side for a 3-0 advantage.
Cottrell allowed a leadoff single to start the game but the runner was thrown out attempting to steal and the lefthander retired the next two hitters to end the frame. Cottrell struck out the side in the fifth inning and posted a scoreless sixth inning.
In the fifth inning, McKeon hammered the first pitch he saw off the scoreboard in left-centerfield for a solo homer. WSU added two more runs with two outs in the sixth inning on an RBI-single to right field from Hainline and a double just inside the third base bag and down the leftfield line to score Hainline for a 6-0 advantage.
Cottrell again retired the side in order in the seventh before giving way to the bullpen.
Smith added an RBI-single through the left side in the seventh before the Cougars pulled way with four runs in the eighth inning on a Hainline RBI-single to right field and Kolden capped the scoring with an opposite-field three-run homer to right-centerfield.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kodie Kolden was hit by a pitch in the 1st inning to extend his on-base streak to 17 games
Van De Brake singled in 3rd inning to extend his hitting streak to 12 games and on-base streak to 19 games
McKeon homered in the 5th inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games
NEXT UP
WSU opens a five-game road trip with a Wednesday matchup at UC Riverside, followed by a weekend series at UCLA and a nonconference meeting at Portland next Tuesday.