TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (May 13, 2021) - The No. 20 Salt Lake Community College baseball team continued its winning ways Thursday, opening the Region 18 postseason tournament with a strong showing.

SLCC earned a nail-biting 11-8 win over in-state rival USU Eastern to open the Region 18 tournament at Southern Nevada, setting up a winners' bracket clash with either the host Coyotes or Southern Idaho on Friday. Salt Lake is now 32-15 overall.

The Bruins scored early and often in the game, posting a pair of runs in the first inning thanks to an unearned run and a Karson Bodily RBI sacrifice-fly. Zachary Blaszak also added an RBI double in the second inning. USU Eastern responded strongly over the middle innings, tying the game at 7-7 in the seventh inning thanks to a three-run home run. However, the closeout to the game was all Salt Lake, as Dalton Hodge, Bodily and Jake Herman all hit RBI singles in the next innings to give SLCC some much-needed breathing space. Blaszak also hit another RBI double in the eighth inning to provide extra insurance for the Bruins.

Bodily was a team-best 3-of-4 in the game, also finishing with four RBI's. Salt Lake had seven players finish with multi-hit games. Breck Eichelberger earned the pitching win for the Bruins, throwing 6.2 innings while striking out seven USU Eastern batters.

Salt Lake will play the winner of a game between Southern Nevada and Southern Idaho on Friday at 12:00 p.m., playing at Southern Nevada's Morse Stadium. The winner of the game will play in Saturday's Region 18 championship game, while the loser will play in an elimination game later in the evening.