Bruins battle, but can only manage one victory and a couple tough losses to conference rival Southern Idaho.
The Bruins baseball team dropped game one on Friday 7-1. They battled back to gain the win in game two 3-2. Each game on Saturday was a battle as both games came down to the wire. CSI was the more clutch team as they picked two critical conference victories 5-4 and 8-6. The Bruins are still trenched in third place in Scenic West Conference play.
Game one started off with some serious fireworks, for CSI. In the first two innings the Eagles bashed home seven runs and took the commanding lead. The Bruins could only muster one run as sophomore leftfielder Zac Swasey smashed a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. The other bright spot for the Bruins was Australian relief pitcher Jeremy Atkinson. Atkinson threw the final six innings and gave up five hits and allowed no runs. Picking up the win for CSI was Tyler Vavra who threw six and a third and gave up one run.
Game two started off much smoother for the Bruins as the first three batters for SLCC all reached base. Sophomre Kyle Bilbrey led off the game with a triple and Second baseman Duncan Blades singled him in. After that the Bruins were able to load the bases with one out, but were only able to get one more run across on catcher Bo Fisher’s RBI Single. Swasey tried scoring on the hit, but was thrown out at the plate for the final out. SLCC went into the top of the second with the two run lead; however CSI came right back and put two runs up in the top of the second. JC Paquin knocked a two run homer that just stayed far down the right field line. Both teams each had opportunites to score, but both pitcher got back into form and held each scoreless until the fifth when Bilbrey hit his second triple in three at-bats and was singled home by Blades for his second RBI. The Eagles final chance came in the top of the ninth. Closer for the Bruins Josh Moony came in a hit the first batter. However Paquin knocked into a double play and that was pretty much it. The Bruins picked up the 3-2 win to even out the series 1-1. Sophomore starter Derek Christensen picked up the win for the Bruins as he went six and two thirds and gave up two runs, six hits, and struck out eight.
Saturday started off much the same way as Friday. CSI came out and hung four runs in the first. CSI had five hits on the inning. Dale Anderson for CSI had a two out double that plated two runs. CSI went on the offensive again in the third. They were able to load the bases with one out. Pitcher Tyson Memmott made some clutch pitches to give up no runs. CSI was able to score an insurance run in the top of the sixth. CSI’s Tanner Craswell singled to lead off the inning. He was sacrificed to second by Blake Lively. Then errors by the Bruins battery allowed him to score. A wild pitch allowed him to go to third and a passed ball allowed him to score.
The bottom of the inning is when the Bruins finally woke their bats up. They were able to load the bases with no outs. Tyson Littlewood came to the plate and he promptly hit into a double play to score one run and advance a runner to third. With two outs designated hitter Mitch Manning came up and knocked a double over the defenders heads to pick up the RBI and keep the rally alive at 5-2. Head coach DG Nelson then sent up pinch hitter Adam Kelsch. Kelsch stepped to the plate and hammered a two run bomb to pull the Bruins within one, 5-4. After another single Moony came in and flew out to the first basemen to end the rally. In the seventh Blades singled, but that was all the Bruins could muster. The Eagles picked up the 5-4 win. Casey Lish picked up the win for CSI
Game four was the same old. CSI hung three runs in the first and two more in the second to jump out to the quick lead for the third time on the weekend. In the fourth the Eagles struck again as they put three more runs up to take the commanding 8-0 lead. The Bruins got the bats going in the bottom of the inning as they batted around and put five runs up on the board. Manning and Bilbrey each had two RBI’s in the inning. SLCC inched closer at 8-5. In the fifth Fisher drove home Littlewood to come within two at 8-6. Moony came to the plate with two runners on and two outs, but he grounded out to first to end the rally and the scoring for the day. Chris Kerns picked up the win for CSI.
The Bruins will return home to take on Western Nevada Community College on Apr. 30 and May 1. Their final home stand will be against Southern Nevada College on May 7-8. First pitch is scheduled for 1 pm on Friday and Noon on Saturday. All home games are played on the Jordan Campus at 90 South and Bangerter.
