TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (April 17, 2019) - Resiliency is the mark of a champion and the No. 17 Salt Lake Community College baseball team will certainly have to show some in the coming weeks.

The Bruins went 1-3 in a weekend series at the College of Southern Idaho, dropping the program's advantage in the Scenic West Athletic Conference to mere percentage points as they try to claim the Scenic West regular-season title. On the bright side, Salt Lake will have a chance to return to their winning ways this weekend as they host a four-game league series against in-state rival USU Eastern at Cate Field in West Jordan.

SLCC coach D.G. Nelson said last weekend was a reminder to his team of the level of play it takes to consistently win in the Scenic West.

"These guys have worked hard and are fun to watch play," he said. "The exciting part is to have the ability to dictate our post season."

While Salt Lake went just 1-3 in the Southern Idaho series, it wasn't as if the Bruins didn't have a chance in those losses. SLCC lost the three games by a combined seven runs, powering to a 10-3 win in the series finale. Southern Idaho earned two wins on walk-off hits, including a marathon win in game one of the series. On an individual note, SLCC's Josh Cowden won weekly honors from the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

Preparing for USU Eastern this weekend, Nelson said his team will have to be committed to doing the little things.

"It's in our hands to finish strong in the last two conference series and earn the right to host the conference tournament," he said. "It's why we play."

USU Eastern is currently in last place in the league standings, having gone just 3-13 in league play. The Eagles split with Colorado Northwestern last weekend, holding a record of 3-2 over their last five games. The team had an 11-game losing streak at one point in the league season. 

The Bruins and Eagles will play a four-game series that will be split into two doubleheaders. Friday's doubleheader will begin at 1:00 p.m. at Cate Field and Saturday's doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m. Live stats for all four games will be available at www.slccbruins.com.