PRICE – Utah State Eastern Baseball was swept on the road by the #17 Salt Lake Community College Bruins on Friday and Saturday.
The Eagles began the four-game series with a 9-2 loss in game one on Friday.
USU Eastern Freshman Hunter Lasko hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 1-1.
The Bruins’ bats would come alive in the bottom of the sixth and hit two homers including a grand slam to take a 9-1 lead.
Eagles’ pitcher Jake Smith would go 5.2 innings and allow five hits and throw three strikeouts in the loss.
USU Eastern would rebound in game two but ultimately come up short and fall 8-6 to Salt Lake.
In the third inning the Eagles would be the first to add runs on the board when Dylan Sanchez singled to center field for an RBI.
The Eagles would take a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth when Dylan Rodriguez added an RBI single.
However, the Bruins would come back in the next half inning and add six runs to take a commanding 8-4 lead.
USU Eastern wouldn’t give up easy, adding a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth off of a Ryan Curtis solo home run.
Curtis had two hits, two runs, and a walk in the game two loss.
On Saturday the Eagles would fall to the Bruin 9-5 in game three.
After trailing 5-1 heading into the top of the fifth, the Eagles would score three runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth to tie the game at 5-5.
Salt Lake would pull away in the sixth inning after a two RBI single by Jaxson Otis and an error led to four runs.
Karter Pope, Zac Fitch, and Cooper Kunz would combine to throw four strikeouts while giving up seven hits on the mound for the Eagles.
“In both games two and three, we played very good baseball. We were putting together quality at bats all game. We had quality pitching that held down a very good SLCC hitting lineup,” said USU Eastern Head Coach Scott Madsen.
In the final game of the series, it was all Salt Lake as they would shutdown the Eagles 10-0 in five innings.
The Salt Lake pitching staff would throw a one-hitter in game four with zero walks and two strikeouts.
The four-game sweep moves the Eagles record to 3-23 overall and 2-16 in conference play.
Despite the losses, Madsen says he is happy with the body of work this weekend from his team.
“This weekend I was impressed with the team as a whole. They all played really well at times. Just hoping we can put it together for nine innings this coming weekend,” said Madsen.
The Eagles will now return home for a four-game series this coming Friday and Saturday against a nationally-ranked College of Southern Nevada squad.
After the series against CSN, the Eagles will host the College of Southern Idaho in the final week of the regular season.
Madsen says after a tough schedule on the road, he is ready to home to play in front of the home crowd.
“We have had an amazing following on the road, and can’t wait to see how things look playing at home. I know some people in the community have been waiting a long time for us to play at home. It should be exciting,” said Madsen.
“I think this will be a good time for us to get home and refuel heading into the region tournament.”
All four games against CSN will be broadcasted on the Scenic West Digital Network at scenicwestnetwork.com.
Friday’s games begin at 1 p.m. at Carlson-Colosimo Field and Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled for noon.