Boise State's return to varsity baseball after a 40-year hiatus came to an abbreviated end due to the coronavirus, but the Broncos showed enough in 14 games to send notice that they're ready to contend right away.
Playing their first varsity season since 1980, Boise State posted a team slash line of .296/.397/.435, which ranked second in conference and in the top 50 nationally.
Head coach Gary Van Tol and hitting coach Travis Buck credited the offensive success - in part - to a relationship forged last year with Axe Bat.
In a post on the school's website, Van Tol said:
"We loved the performance and feel of the new bats, but equally important, we felt Axe Bat was committed to growing a successful long-term program with us. (Their) approach to building the best bat for a player's swing aligns with the direction the game is headed and is an important competitive advantage of us."
Added Buck:
"The partnership with Axe Bat couldn't have started off on a better note. Our hitters embraced the change to the Axe Handle this year and in return we saw better bat speed and barrel control from them. Although our season was only 14 games long, I wasn't surprised where we finished in the conference and nationally in most offensive categories. We knew we had guys who could hit, but the Axe Bat gave our hitters confidence to perform."
While Axe Bat can't take credit for the hard work of the coaches, players, and support staff, we can express our pride in being associated with the Boise State program and our appreciation of the coaches and players who, as early adopters of the technology, believed in our bats and training programs. Congrats Broncos! #BleedBlue