By Jose Briseno, Castle Country Radio:
A four-game series brought the Eagles home for the final time this season as Eastern played host to the Southern Nevada Coyotes. Although the Eagles had clinched the four seed in the SWAC, USUE entered the series with a four-game losing streak.
The Eagles lost a heart breaker in game one as CSN hit a game-winning three-run home run in the top of the eighth to take a late 4-3 lead. Eastern jumped to a quick 3-0 lead after four innings but were unable to close out the game. Gabe Childs hit an RBI double in the third to score the first run of the game. Eastern would score two in the fourth off a passed ball and a Zack Argyle RBI single. Gabe Childs led the team offensively with two doubles. Carson Hawkes got the start on the bump for the Eagles and tossed 6.0 innings and allowed just one run on five hits. Hawkes also walked six and struck out four batters. Ky Decker entered the game, for Hawkes, in the seventh and only faltered in the eighth inning where he gave up the eventual game-winning home run. Decker was credited with the loss as Eastern fell 4-3.
Game two was dominated by CSN from beginning to end as Eastern fell 7-1. Vaughn Deming drove in the lone Eastern run on an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Eastern mustered just five hits in the game with Jake Mortensen totaling two of the five. Eastern hitters also struck out 11 times and left nine runners on base. Kody Nelson started the game on the mound and lasted 5.0 innings. Nelson allowed two runs on seven hits to go with five strikeouts. Troy Connell and Jordan Brown combined for the final two innings. Connell allowed three runs on four hits while Brown allowed just one hit in his 1.1 innings of work.
Things did not improve much for Eastern in game three as the Eagles were blanked, 5-0. Hayden Brock was the starting pitcher for Eastern in the game. Brock threw 5.0 innings and allowed just two runs on four hits. He was able to strikeout nine batters while allowing five to reach via walk and two via hit-by-pitch. Tyler Fitch finished the final two innings and allowed just one run on one hit. Eastern managed just three hits in the game as Gabe Childs, Jake Mortensen and Dylan Hawkes provided the only offense for USUE.
Eastern was unable to avoid the sweep in game four as they fell in a 19-8 blowout. Ty Barker got things started in the bottom of the first with a three-run home run and give Eastern an easy 3-0 lead. After CSN provided offense of their own and took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the third. Ty Barker once again gave the Eagles a spark with a two-run home run. Eastern and CSN would trade blows back and forth until the sixth inning, where CSN turned an 11-8 lead into a 19-8 win after scoring eight runs in the top of the sixth. Westin Corless was given the start and loss on the mound while Riley Ashton and Nate Rhinner also saw time on the mound for Eastern.
With the Region 18 conference baseball tournament set to begin Wednesday, May 11, the USU Eastern Eagles find themselves in the four-five matchup against Colorado Northwestern. The Eagles head into the game on an eight-game losing streak. However, the Eagles fought their way to a 6-2 record over the Spartans this season.
The tournament will be played at SLCC and first pitch between Eastern and CNCC will be thrown at 3:30PM.