Jose Briseno, USU Eastern Athletics
Photo courtesy of Jeff Barrett
The Utah State University Eastern Eagles took the field Monday afternoon after weekend of postponements against the Salt Lake Community College Bruins.
The Eagles and Bruins squared off in a doubleheader, where the Bruins emerged victorious 7-2 and 8-6.
Eastern fell behind 3-0 after the first inning of play. Kaden Davis hit a two-run single in the top of the second to get things going for Eastern, and cut the Salt Lake lead to 3-2. The single-digit deficit would not last long as SLCC added three more runs in the bottom of the inning.
The Bruins added one more run in the bottom of the third to take a 7-2 lead, and Eastern was unable to recover and fell 7-2 in game one.
Eastern left six runners on base, including multiple runners on second and third, as Kaden Davis led the Eagles on offense. Davis finished 1-3 with two RBIs.
USU Eastern held the lead for much of a back-and-forth contest in game two. USUE scored two runs in the top of the third to take an early lead. SLCC matched the two runs in the bottom half of the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game 2-2.
Tyler Nelson and Gavin Douglas hit two singles in the sixth inning to drive to Eagle runs across to retake a two-run 4-2 lead. The lead lasted just a few minutes as SLCC tied the game in the bottom half of the frame.
Nelson and Douglas, once again, provided a spark on offense for Eastern, driving in two more runs, but a three-run double in the bottom of the eighth ultimately gave SLCC the 8-6 win.
“We just weren’t able to finish the second game,” said head coach Kirk Haney. “We have two important games tomorrow against SLCC. We haven’t been able to play much, but we know that this is a series that we can walk away from with a few wins.”
The Eagles and Bruins will finish the series tomorrow afternoon with another doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.