Snyder leads team on field,
at the plate
By Christian Schmidt
Daily Cougar Staff
Chris Snyder knows how to finish a game
in style.
Friday night against Baylor, the junior
catcher stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with
the
score tied. He calmly proceeded to crush
a pitch into the left field seats, ending the game with a walk-off home
run.
Against Texas, Snyder recorded a single
that brought in two runs, bringing the Cougars within a run of sending
the game to extra innings. The Cougars
couldn't quite close the gap, but not because Snyder didn't do all he
could.
"I didn't even really care if I got any
hits (this weekend)," Snyder said. "I just wanted to do something to help
get
the team started."
Snyder doesn't seem to care too much about
his offensive statistics. He's more concerned about how his team
plays. Snyder was the first to congratulate
his teammates this weekend, and quickly moved to protect his pitcher
when a brawl nearly broke out Saturday
against Texas.
Even after going 0-2 in Sunday's game,
Snyder is batting .571 for the season, including three runs batted in,
one
home run, and two runs scored. In addition,
Snyder reached base four times in three games by being hit by a
pitch. That gives him an on-base percentage
of .750, which is simply ridiculous.
Teams often try to pitch inside to Snyder,
thinking that his 6-3, 224-pound frame won't let him hit those pitches
thrown high and inside.
Snyder made that strategy backfire this
weekend when those pitches hit him, giving him a free trip to first base.
Two of his hits came on balls that weren't
far enough inside, the home run and a single he ripped down the third
base line.
Of course, it would be nearly impossible
for Snyder to continue at the phenomenal level of offensive production
he had this weekend. But Snyder may well
eclipse all his personal bests this season as he leads Houston to a
possible College World Series appearance.
The only reason to think Snyder won't put
up great numbers in the home run and runs batted in categories is that
teams may stop pitching to him. He wasn't
intentionally walked over the weekend, but pitchers were careful not to
throw him anything he could hit.
His hits came on pitches that were accidentally
left out over the plate, instead of high inside or far away. Pitchers
are loath to throw Snyder strikes because
he is liable to take those pitches out of the ballpark.
