Osborne crushes 3 home runs in doubleheader for Dickinson St.
Sagan Osborne
“I am trying to unleash my swing a little bit more in favorable situations,” he told me. “I worked a lot this summer on my power.”
The 6-foot-3 senior shortstop at Dickinson State University in North Dakota has always been a good contact hitter with gap power, but this year he is knocking the ball out of the ballpark.
Osborne has mashed four taters in six games this fall after hitting just one in 52 games last season with the NAIA team.
He went yard three times in Sunday’s doubleheader sweep against the University of Winnipeg. He finished 6-for-8 at the plate with seven RBIs and seven runs scored.
“I’m just getting my pitch and not missing it,” he said. “I felt like last year I was just missing a few pitches that I could really drive and I really couldn’t figure out why.
“I think by allowing myself to just swing hard at those pitches instead of thinking too much about just making contact has allowed my instincts to take over.”
Osborne, of Dimond High fame, is hitting .583 this year with 14 hits in 24 at-bats. Six of his hits have gone for extra bases.
The fall season features just two more games before things shut down until spring.
“All the teams treat these like real games because they are, so you going to see everyone’s best,” he said. “It feels good to be driving balls out of the park, but I don’t think it’s going to affect my mindset at the plate.
“I feel like my swing is in a pretty good groove right now so I’m going to make sure I’m not changing just because the success has been putting balls over the fence.”