David Clayton settled into his seat on Utah State University’s team bus Friday evening — a setting the sophomore second baseman had grown all-too-familiar with. The bus, bound for Boise, had driven him to six different states in the past ten weeks.
Clayton said he’s ready for the road trips to end.
USU’s baseball team begins its three-game series against conference rival Boise State on Saturday at 12 p.m., followed immediately by a second game at 2:30 p.m. — it will be the team’s final road series of the regular season.
The weekend marks the 2014 season's halfway point, and the first-place Aggies hope to maintain control of the Northern Pacific South Conference before returning for their home opener on Friday.
“I'm excited to play at home and win games,” said Clayton, who was named Conference Player of the Week on Monday. “The way our team is looking, we should make playoffs and I'm excited for that.”
Third-year player Jeff Schiffman agrees.
“We are leading the conference right now, and we are starting to hit better,” Schiffman said. “Our pitchers are throwing great right now. We are sitting right where we want.”
Following USU’s series in Boise, the Aggies will play the remainder of their season at home — an opportunity head coach Norm Doyle is looking forward to.
“We’re hoping to come home in first place after all our games being on the road,” Doyle said. “We’re hoping to have overflow crowds supporting us this year. The fans do make a difference.”
Players like Clayton are already thinking about making a deep post-season run.
“Last year's team didn't make it to regionals,” Clayton said, “but this year's team is a different story. We have a chance to win every game we play in.”
USU won the National Club Baseball Association title in 2012, and this year’s squad wants nothing less than to return to NCBA prominence.
“We should make it to the World Series in Tampa,” Schiffman said. “We have the talent to go back there. Anything short of that will be a disappointment.”
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