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Feb. 22, 2006

PULLMAN, Wash. - Transferring to WSU after two years at Salt Lake Community College, right-handed hurler Nick Ison is ready to help the Cougars' 2006 effort to return to prominence in the Pac-10. With a few weeks of baseball in the books, Ison took the time this week to chat with the Cougar Sports Information Department about his new experience at WSU.

While the team started 6-2 Ison quietly led with a 2-0 record, surrendering only 4 hits and a 0.82 earned run average in 11 innings of work.

Sports Information: Talk about the adjustment you are going through right now as you start your freshman season.
Nick Ison: The adjustment is pretty easy, just getting used to throwing to metal bats. Also traveling farther than just around Salt Lake City, we traveled on buses last year and now we're flying, so just getting past that first weekend I think I'm pretty comfortable.

SI: How tough is it to travel 3,000 miles, get off the plane and pitch, and then do it again the next weekend?
NI: It's pretty tiring. It takes about a day after you are traveling to get back to normal. It's a lot different from last year, but now that this weekend is over I'll probably get used to it.

SI: You've been on the road these first three weekends, a long way from home. What do you guys do in your down time?
NI: The past couple of weekends we haven't had much downtime because of rain delays and change of schedules, but in our downtime we hang out in the hotel and listen to music.

SI: Talk about the difference between pitching at the JC level last year and now coming into the Division I level and facing some tougher teams.
NI: The level of competition is a lot higher. It is a lot different throwing to metal bats compared to wood bats because anybody can put it into the outfield now, and usually you can't break a metal bat.

SI: Talk about your WSU experience after getting a semester under your belt.
NI: I like WSU now. It took a semester to get used to it, since I am from Salt Lake City. I'm comfortable here and I enjoy the campus life.

SI: The Olympics are going on right now and four years ago they were in your home state. Did you get a chance to go see any of the Olympics?
NI: I couldn't get to any of the events, but I went downtown and enjoyed all the festivals where I met a lot of people from other countries. It was a big event; we spent two or three years getting ready for it. The whole city changed, from transportation to lots of people moving in before and after the Olympics.

SI: The team has gotten off to a good start, what do you feel is the potential for the team as you go forward in the season?
NI: I think we have a high potential, and I think we'll reach it pretty soon.