The Western men’s baseball team ended its season with a loss in the regional championship game against Utah State University.
The Vikings competed in the Northern Pacific Conference Regional Tournament from May 12-14 in Boise, Idaho.
Western began the double elimination tournament on Friday, May 12 with an 11-7 loss against Utah State, which put them in the loser’s bracket.
“We hope that the Western legacy will live on and every team from here on out will make it to regionals and hopefully make it to nationals.”
Marvin Hudkins, junior
Senior head coach and first baseman Conner Celli said the team fought until the last inning and out.
“After an [hour-long] rain delay and tying it up, it would have been very easy to fold and throw in the towel right then and there, but throughout the year this team did not do that,” Celli said.
The Viking’s second and third games of the tournament were on Saturday, May 13, with a 13-1 win against the University of Oregon, and a 24-7 win against their rival, Gonzaga University.
“We rose to the occasion and knew our backs were against the wall,” Celli said. “We just didn’t want to go home, and we came out, and played like there was no tomorrow.”
Western played Utah State in the championship on Sunday, May 14, losing in a close 4-3 game.
Junior second and third baseman Marvin Hudkins said it wasn’t how they expected the game to go, but they gave it everything they had.
“We all had an amazing fight. We all had the heart. We all wanted to keep going, but in the end, the cards didn’t fall our way,” Hudkins said.
He said they are going to keep getting better as a team.
“All I can say is next year, we’re going to be back in regionals and we hope to take it further than we did this year and further than we did last year,” Hudkins said. “We hope that the Western legacy will live on and every team from here on out will make it to regionals and hopefully make it to nationals.”
The Vikings ended their 2017 season as Northern Pacific North Conference Champions with a final overall record of 17-6.
