新澳门六合彩内幕信息

A Dog in the Dugout

Football Tee Retriever Cori Is Now Bringing Back Bats

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Cori the dog carries a baseball bat toward the outstretched hand of Lisa Tell.
Cori, a Labrador retriever owned by Lisa Tell 鈥87, DVM 鈥91, a professor of medicine and epidemiology in the School of Veterinary Medicine, has learned to retrieve baseball bats. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

Cori is 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 newest multisport Aggie, branching out with forays into basketball last month and baseball this weekend.

The Labrador retriever spent Saturdays last fall retrieving the kickoff tee from Aggie football games, at a basketball game in January and will be at one of the first baseball games of the season this Saturday (Feb. 18) to retrieve bats.

WEEKEND SERIES

Cori will retrieve bats at 11 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 18) in the first game of a doubleheader, part of the Aggies鈥 season-opening, four-game series against Utah Valley at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 .

All game times:

  • Friday, Feb. 17 鈥 2 p.m.
  • Saturday, Feb. 18 鈥 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, Feb. 19 鈥 1 p.m.

鈥淪he鈥檚 a dog that she just really loves the relationship and working, and having a job,鈥 said Lisa Tell 鈥87, DVM 鈥91, a professor of medicine and epidemiology in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Cori鈥檚 owner. 鈥淪he鈥檚 happy to retrieve anything that I want her to retrieve.鈥

Tell has been working with Cori to get her used to the previously unfamiliar task of retrieving the metal bats standard in NCAA play, ensuring she picks them up at the fat end so as to avoid the pine tar used to enhance players鈥 grip.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not something that is super natural for a dog: holding something metal,鈥 Tell said.

Cori took to it quickly, but perhaps a bigger challenge was getting her to focus on the bats and not the one thing guaranteed to entice a playful dog: a ball being thrown back and forth.

Baseball players pet Cori
Catcher Jack Gallagher and pitcher Danny Carrion greet Cori during a recent baseball practice. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

鈥淪he鈥檚 a dog that loves a ball,鈥 Tell said. 鈥淚 had to get her really excited about watching the bat and not the ball.鈥

Cori typically only retrieves bats for a few innings of a game 鈥 if she starts to get tired or bored, the task becomes much more difficult, Tell said. Even with limited duty, she has formed bonds with the players.

鈥淚t鈥檚 fun because the baseball players really engage with her,鈥 Tell said. 鈥淭hey pet her; they鈥檙e happy to see her.鈥

Cori will participate in only a few baseball games this season (), but she鈥檚 always happy to meet students, and Tell often has stickers featuring Cori鈥檚 likeness to hand out. She鈥檚 even enlisted the help of a student ambassador, vet student Stephanie Han, to bring Cori to more events.

鈥淚 do this because I like students to be involved,鈥 Tell said. 鈥淚 really hope it鈥檚 fun for the students, and I hope it鈥檚 fun for the team.鈥

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Cody Kitaura is a News and Media Relations Specialist in the Office of Strategic Communications, and can be reached by email or at 530-752-1932.

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