Having already captured the Scenic West Athletic Conference’s best record, the 6th ranked Lady Bruins hoops team didn’t have much to play for in their regular season finale against Snow College on Saturday. They certainly didn’t play that way though, running away with a 69-48 victory over the Badgers on “Sophomore Night.”
In a contest that Coach Betsy Specketer described as “a game of runs,” the Badgers were able to keep the contest close for the majority of the game before Salt Lake used a 13-0 run in the last half of the second frame to pull away. Fittingly, it was the steady play of sophomore trio Haley Holmstead, Alli Blake and Jami Mokofisi that led the Lady Bruins in the final game of their careers at Bruin Arena. Blake led Salt Lake with 18 points, followed by Holmstead with 16. Mokofisi, the double-double machine, posted another one, scoring 12 points and securing 15 rebounds.
For the men’s squad, securing the league’s third best record in conference play was a priority as Snow came to town. In an up-and-down first half, the Bruins seized a 36-28 lead thanks to a 51 percent field goal percentage and an 18-10 advantage in points in the paint.
The Bruins came out blazing in the second half, as a Given Kalipinde fast break dunk off of a steal stretched Salt Lake’s lead to 11 just two minutes into the stanza. Three minutes later, the lead was 16, and the Badgers couldn’t claw their way back into it as SLCC came away with an 89-76 win. The Bruins finished with a 9-6 conference record heading into the conference tournament.
*Both the men’s and the women’s tournaments will be held March 3-5 at CSI in Twin Falls, Idaho. For information on how to obtain tickets to the tournament, visit scenicwestsports.com
Baseball
The Bruins baseball squad stayed hot this week, coming out on top in all six of their contests. The victories helped them extend their winning streak to 12 games.
In a double-header at Cate Field on Tuesday against Prairie Baseball Academy of Lethbridge, Alberta in Canada, the Bruins showed that baseball is still America’s pastime, winning 4-2 and 8-3. The Salt Lake offense struggled a little bit in the opening game, but Jordan Hager pitched five solid innings, Tanner Banks was effective in relief, and Josh Mooney picked up the save. In the rubber match, the offense woke up, scoring at least once in every inning en route to victory. Braden Anderson and Kennedy Kinkade each recorded a triple in the contest.
Since it was on the schedule, Prairie Academy came back to the ballpark the next day, but the results were the same, as SLCC connected for 17 runs to win by 12. Dom Taylor, Dillon Meyer and Tyson Popoff combined for 9 base knocks and 9 RBI, while Eric Carter grabbed the win.
Following the victory, the “Bruin Express” bus took the team to Prescott, Arizona for a double-header against #15 Yavapai College the following day. The Bruins outscored their opponent 11-4 over the two matches, winning 7-2 and 4-2. Adam Dunn got the win in game one, and Tyson Memmott picked up the night cap. Future Arizona State Sun Devil Kyle Bilbrey scattered 5 hits throughout the day. To close out their party in Prescott, the pitching staff turned in a gem the following day, as Salt Lake beat Thompson River College, 7-0. Rudy Acosta and Josh Mooney combined to fan a whopping 16 batters on the day.
Softball
To complete the sweep of SLCC sports for the week, the softball team torched Southern Nevada over 4 games on Friday and Saturday. The offense had an insane trip, outscoring Southern Nevada 56-19 on the weekend. In game one, DJ Richardson hit two out of the park, while Krystin Jachim and Kylee Bufton each touched all the bases once. Bufton stayed in the zone in game two, hitting a grand slam and a two-run shot, piling up 8 RBI. Shay Wallace also hit one out of the park, while Kylee Brinkerhoff and Savannah Webster combined for 7 hits.
*Baseball and softball information taken from slccbruins.com
