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Baseball

Bruins Get Doubled Up in Final Home Series

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Bruins Get Doubled Up in Final Home Series

Colton Yack, Sports Information Director

Baseball:

Offensive struggles continue as the Bruins drop Friday's doubleheader and series

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — It was a rough day Friday at Cate Field for SLCC as the Bruins could not manage that timely hit when needed.

After inducing a leadoff groundout, SLCC sophomore starter Brady Corless (Spanish Fork, UT) allowed five straight CSI hitters to reach base leading to an early 4-0 hole. The rally started when CSI's two hole hitter Jordan Godman singled through the right side. Followed by a single and a hit by pitch, Golden Eagle right fielder AJ Van Meetren hit a line drive in the four hole to drive in two runs. After another run off a wild pitch, CSI short stop Bobby Wright hit a bounding ground ball that deflected off of SLCC first baseman Colton Barkdull (Erda, UT) plating the fourth run.

After the Golden Eagles added an insurance run in the fourth, the Bruins finally posed a threat in the bottom half of the fifth. Zach Watts (West Jordan, UT) led off with a single followed by a Garrett Bushman (Farmington, UT) hit-by-pitch, Barkdull came up with runners on second and third. However, CSI starting pitcher Grant Kukuk froze Barkdull with a back hip curveball for a called third strike.

Replacing Corless in the sixth, Jordan Hager (Farmington, UT) toed the rubber for the Bruins and found immediate trouble. A lead off double off the right field fence and an RBI single put CSI on top of the Bruins 6-1. Hager settled down however and closed the frame with a foul out and two strikeouts setting the stage for a possible SLCC comeback effort.

In the bottom of the seventh, pinch hitter Hunter Low (Cedar City, UT) hit a first pitch single up the middle. Pinch ran for by Kade Teter (Pocatello, ID), Teter advanced to third on an error by the first baseman. A Nick Urban (Las Vegas, NV) walk loaded the bases with two outs with Caleb Summerhays (Las Vegas, NV) coming up. Summerhays pounded a fastball through the left side getting SLCC on the board. The rally was cut short once CSI made a pitching change to convert the game's final out securing a 6-1 final score.

Corless dropped his first decision of the year putting his record to 2-1. Kukuk threw 6.2 quality innings securing his third win of the season. Watts was the only Bruin with multiple hits.

Game two was virtually deja vu as SLCC found themselves in an early hole again.

Godman started the rally for CSI with a single through the right side, again. Two batters later, Isaac Anderson hit a laser up the middle that caught a good part of SLCC starter Chris Bradford (Las Vegas, NV), deflecting to the four hole for the game's first run. Two Bruin errors in the second inning proved costly as the Golden Eagles reeled off four more runs, none earned, for an early 5-0 lead. Another CSI run in third pushed the lead to 6-0.

Then the Bruins came alive.

Taylor Snyder (Elk Ridge, UT) came through with a two out single in the fourth followed by a first pitch opposite field double to left center by Watts plating Snyder all the way from first cutting the CSI lead to 6-1. The momentum continued in the fifth as Bushman led off with a ground-rule double to right field. Two more doubles in the inning from Barkdull and Summerhays put two SLCC runs on the board cutting the lead to 6-3.

A late run by CSI put the score to 7-3 heading to bottom half of the seventh giving the Bruins one last chance to mount a comeback. Three consecutive singles from Bushman, Robert Grilli (Mississauga, Ontario, CAN) and Barkdull pushed a run across. However, CSI pitcher Erik Nouis halted the SLCC threat securing a 7-4 win for the Golden Eagles.

Despite the unearned runs, Bradford took the loss dropping his record to 6-3 as Zack Draper picked up the win for the Golden Eagles. Barkdull, Watts and Bushman all finished with two hits for the Bruins.

Coach DG Nelson and the Bruins finish their regular season with a stellar record of 34-16, 22-10 in SWAC play and still stand in an excellent to host the NJCAA Region 18 Tournament May 7-10.  SLCC will be watching closely as Western Nevada College, the SWAC second place team, play host to the College of Southern Nevada this weekend and travel to Twin Falls, ID for their regular season finale against CSI May 2-3.









 
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