The Pittsburgh Steelers will win the Super Bowl, 24-17. In more important news, the Salt Lake Community College Bruins of multiple varieties were busy last weekend. Here’s a rundown of the action by sport:
Baseball
The Bruins led off their 2011 campaign on Friday at the Coyote Border Battle in Las Vegas by splitting two games with Cochise College. In the opening game, Scott Manning hit a two-run dinger in the 6th inning to give SLCC a lead it would keep. Ace Tyson Memmott got the victory as the Bruins won 8-6. Jordan Hager got the save.
In the rubber match, SLCC was off to a great start as Ruddy Acosta was dominant on the mound, racking up seven “Ks” in just four innings. Josh Mooney then came in from the bullpen and the wheels came off as the Bruins fell 15-2.
The following day, the Bruins swept a double-header against Arizona Western as the offense went nuts, scoring 22 runs over the two contests. The pitching performance was also superb, as Arizona Western was held to just one run in the first game and two in the second.
Softball
Also in Las Vegas to begin the new year, the Bruin softball squad got off to a rough start, losing both of their games on Friday. Jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning of the year, SLCC squandered the lead as South Mountain College won, 8-7. DJ Richardson hit a three-run deep ball in the loss. The 15 runs scored between the two teams came on just 14 hits.
The second game didn’t produce the firepower that the opening match did, and SLCC found themselves on the losing end again, 2-0 against Pima College. Ariel Zimmerman had a good day on the mound, but the offense couldn’t get going, striking out nine times.
In a triple-header on Saturday, the Bruins went nuts against Gateway College, winning 9-0. They then hung on to beat Central Arizona College 6-5, but were unable to steal a victory against a talented Yavapai College team, losing 2-1.
Women’s basketball
If basketball games were six minutes long, Eastern Utah would have been in good shape Friday night. They are 40 minutes though, and SLCC cruised to victory, using a big run in the middle of the first frame to take a 24-10 lead. A Maddie Hind bucket at the five minute mark stopped the bleeding, but the wound opened right back up as SLCC went on an 8-3 run to lead at half, 32-15.
The second half started even better for the Bruins, as they outhustled Eastern Utah to build a 27-point lead. The Golden Eagles mounted a solid comeback, but it was too little, too late as SLCC won 54-40. Haley Holmstead led all scorers (again) with 22.
Their game Saturday could be called “The Double-Up Game” as Colorado Northwestern Community College came to LAC Arena. Outrebounding the Lady Spartans 53-27, getting 40 foul shots to CNCC’s 20, and chalking up 13 assists to the Lady Spartans 6 led to victory, 74-45. Said Holmstead, “Coach just was always telling us to play a full 40 minutes, and I think that’s what we did and we did it really well.” Sofia Hepworth had a solid game, scoring 16 points and grabbing 8 rebounds.
Men’s basketball
The men were looking to get back on track against Eastern Utah after last weekend’s losses. The first half was “bang or bust” for both teams as they combined for 14 3-pointers and 19 turnovers as Eastern Utah opened a 38-44 lead.
The hot shooting continued in the second frame as the Golden Eagles stretched their lead to 11. Unable to capitalize on any Eastern Utah mistake, the deficit never got lower than eight until the 4:33 mark. A Trevor Bamgartner layup with 2:30 left looked to seal it, but the Bruins had one more fight in them as the lead was soon just two. Maxim Zakharov had two free throw attempts to finish off SLCC, but he only made one, giving Bruins had one last hope. It came up short, and SLCC lost, 90-89.
Getting desperate for a win, the men were happy to see the lowly CNCC on the schedule Saturday. Dominating in numerous statistical categories, the Bruins were able to break away from the Spartans in the first half using a 16-0 run. The second half got even better as a 15-0 run allowed the Bruins to stretch the lead even more, as they won 99-56. Six Bruins finished in double figures.
*Baseball and softball information taken from slccbruins.com as the games were on the road.
