By Jose Briseno- Castle Country Radio
Fresh off of a four-game sweep over Southern Nevada, the Eagles stayed home to host the Salt Lake Community College Bruins.
Friday afternoon saw the first of two doubleheaders, in which the Eagles split with the Bruins. USU Eastern was able to win game one of the series off of a walk-off home run hit by former NJCAA player of the week, Kalsey Lopes. Tied at 4 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the freshman from Delta Academy stepped into the box and drilled the first pitch she saw to give the Eagles the 5-4 walk-off win. Emma Marchant got the start on the mound and threw six innings. Marchant gave up just three runs on six hits and had three strikeouts. Malorie Luck entered the game in the seventh inning and allowed one run that permitted SLCC to tie the game. Kalsey Lopes was not the only Eagle to leave the yard. Ally Oyanguren hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third.
Game two featured Sydney Smith in the circle to start the game for Eastern. Smith threw 5.1 innings and allowed nine runs on thirteen hits, including a two-run home run to former Carbon Dino Lyndsey Madrigal. Emma Marchant and Malorie Luck also made appearances in game two and gave up a combined three runs on one hit. Skyler Lauver, Zoey Rose, and Avery Nelson provided offensive sparks for the Eagles as the three each had an RBI in the game. The final score was 12-3 in favor of the Bruins as USU Eastern failed to string together a rally of runs.
Saturday afternoon brought the second doubleheader for the Eagles as they were swept in both of their games. Game three saw Madie Luck get the start in the circle for the Eagles in an 8-4 loss. Luck tossed 3.0 innings and surrendered six runs (five earned) on eight hits. Sydney Smith made her second appearance of the series to throw the final seven innings of the game. She allowed two runs on five hits. Ally Oyanguren continued her hot streak with a two-homerun game while Marissa Bowman and Avery Nelson also homered for the Eagles to provide their four runs.
Game four was out of reach for the Eagles from the very beginning as they fell 15-7. Eastern pitching gave up a total of four homeruns to the Bruins as Eastern found themselves on the wrong side of a run rule ending. Emma Marchant and Oakley Giacoletto pitched for the Eagles as the gave up combined 15 runs in five innings. Marissa Bowman and Ally Oyanguren continued to be the offensive sparks for the Eagles. Bowman added a three-run homerun to her series while Oyanguren finished with yet another homerun.
Next week, the 14-20 Eagles will travel to Ephraim, Utah to take on the 11-23 Snow Badgers. The Eagles currently sit in fourth place in the conference, two games behind Southern Nevada for third place. Snow sits two games behind Eastern in fifth. This will prove to be an important series as the Eagles will try to push their way into that third spot. First pitch will be thrown on Friday, Apr. 15 at 1:00 pm with game two to shortly follow at 3:00. Games three and four will be played the next day, Saturday at 12:00 and 2:00.