Boise State baseball plays almost as often as pro teams. How do Broncos go to school?
The Boise State baseball team rallied for a 12-9 win over Niagara on Wednesday in a game that not only marked the third series the Broncos have won at Memorial Stadium this season, but also the continuation of a daunting stretch of what was supposed to be 17 games in 19 days.
Amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus, the Mountain West and Boise State announced Thursday that all athletic competitions have been suspended until further notice.
“All of our guys have aspirations to play in the big leagues, and we want to give them an opportunity at this level to get an understanding of what that’s like,” Boise State coach Gary Van Tol said Wednesday night. “For our staff, we’re ready to play again tomorrow because that’s the world we were living in.”
Prior to spearheading Boise State’s baseball relaunch, Van Tol spent 10 seasons in the Chicago Cubs organization as a manager in the minor leagues, where long road trips and back-to-back games were commonplace.
On Wednesday, Boise State (9-5) rallied from an early two-run deficit and had to come back again after Niagara (6-10) put four runs on the board in the sixth inning to regain the lead. The victory gave the Broncos a 2-1 win in the series. It also marked their seventh game in the past six days.
After finishing a four-game sweep of Northern Colorado on March 1, the Broncos went 3-1 in a home series against Seattle, which they wrapped up Sunday with a 12-8 victory. Boise State split games with Niagara on Monday and Tuesday.
“It has taken a toll on a few of our bodies, but we have a great trainer,” redshirt freshman Dawson Martin said, adding that he and the rest of the Dirty Dozen original team members designed their workouts last year to emulate the regular season. “We grinded last year and put all our ducks in a row, and it’s awesome being able to come out every day, put a uniform on and live the dream.”
For the players, one of the most difficult aspects of such a demanding schedule is keeping up with their class load, which is often equally as demanding. So while putting the 2020 schedule together, Van Tol had an idea. Why not take advantage of Boise State’s array of online classes so the players can do their work from anywhere?
“With as much travel as we do, it’s kind of an experiment, but I know some other schools do it and have success with it,” Van Tol said, adding that all was good after the roster underwent its first grade check of the semester. “The support is there, the resources are there and having the opportunity to have online classes during this spring season while we’re going through this grind, we’re excited to see how it plays out in the end.”
Martin has three online classes this semester and two in-person. Other members of the team are taking full course loads online.
Coeur d’Alene native Michael Hicks — a senior who joined the program last year as a transfer — said he wished the option was made available to him at Portland. It might have kept his GPA from taking such a hit his sophomore year.
“It’s pretty hard to stay on top of school when you can’t be in class,” said Hicks, who isn’t a fan of downtime between games. “I’d rather play every day than play a Monday or Tuesday game and have to wait until Friday to play again. A lot of stuff can happen on an off day, so it has been good to see at-bats every day.”
Playing so many games in such a small window hasn’t slowed Hicks’ bat. On Wednesday, he went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and he bounced a shot off the center-field wall to set up the game-tying run in the fifth inning. Torin Montgomery (2-for-4, two RBIs) followed with a sacrifice grounder, which scored one of the Broncos’ four runs in the inning. Reagan Doss also went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
“Our defense and pitching has picked us up all year, and some days offensively we’ve got to do the same,” Hicks said.
Meyer won’t be out long
Boise State was without its veteran behind the plate Wednesday. Redshirt senior catcher Cory Meyer missed the game after he suffered a shoulder injury in Tuesday’s 7-1 win over Niagara.
While trying to dive back to first to avoid a pick-off attempt, Meyer slipped and, when the transfer from Washington State put his left hand out to brace himself, he heard a pop in his shoulder. He exited the game and did not return.
The good news, according to Van Tol, is that after seeing a doctor Wednesday, the injury was diagnosed as a simple sprain, and the Broncos’ skipper said Meyer could have been back behind the plate as soon as this weekend.
“We’ll see how it feels when he swings the bat. That will be the biggest thing,” Van Tol said.
Martin started at catcher Wednesday, and he allowed two stolen bases. He also went 2-for-5 at the plate and scored two runs.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Boise State baseball plays almost as often as pro teams. How do Broncos go to school?."
