April 19, 2024

Baseball goes stone cold mid-season

It’s been a tough season for the baseball team as they continue to look for the right chemistry in the always tough Scenic West Athlectic Conference.
On March 25, USU-CEU played a double-header against Salt Lake Community College at home. The first game the Eagles were defeated 15-2. Craig Brinkerhoff and Justin Orton scored the only two runs for the Eagles. Nuho Kraja had the only RBI. Tory Ullibarri pitched the first four and two thirds innings; giving up seven hits and five runs and received the loss.

This archived article was written by: Kris Sanford and Jordan Cunningham

It’s been a tough season for the baseball team as they continue to look for the right chemistry in the always tough Scenic West Athlectic Conference.
On March 25, USU-CEU played a double-header against Salt Lake Community College at home. The first game the Eagles were defeated 15-2. Craig Brinkerhoff and Justin Orton scored the only two runs for the Eagles. Nuho Kraja had the only RBI. Tory Ullibarri pitched the first four and two thirds innings; giving up seven hits and five runs and received the loss.
In the second game of the day, USU-CEU had two hits: Tyler Slesk and Kody Christoffersen, with 20 at bats, getting shut out 11-0. Jace Harris received the loss. He pitched two and two thirds innings and gave up seven hits and four runs. On March 26, USU-CEU hosted the Bruins for another doubleheader. In the first game they lost 11-3. However things looked up as the hitting improved. Zak Benson went two for three at the plate and as a team, they went seven for 24. Colby Tidwell received the loss. He pitched three and a third innings, giving up five hits and five runs, and walked two batters. Kody Christoffersen closed out the game. He pitched three and two thirds innings, giving up 6 hits with 6 runs.
In the last game of the four game series against SLCC, the Eagles were shut out once again 10-0. Kendall Prescott went two for two with a walk. Colter Moore received the loss. He pitched four innings; gave up 10 hits and 8 runs, only four runs were earned. Prescott also had 3 strikeouts.
Following the 0-4 weekend against SLCC, USU-CEU traveled down to the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas to play a four-game series. In the first game the team lost 14-1. Kort Christoffersen and Mitch Cowden both went one for one at the plate. Craig Brinkerhoff scored the Eagles only run.
Tidwell received the loss. He pitched one third of an inning, and gave up three hits, five runs, and hit one batter.
In the second game of the day, the Eagles lost 10-2. Mason Moore and Jace Harris scored the two runs. Ullibarri received the loss. He gave up 8 hits and 6 runs in three innings.
April 2, the Eagles hoped to put an end to their 9-game losing streak, but failed. CEU lost 11-1. They went only 4-20 at the plate. Slesk went 2 for 3 and also had the Eagles only RBI. Colter Moore pitched two innings. He gave up 5 hits and 7 runs with three strikeouts; receiving the loss. Anthony Gustin relieved; he pitched three innings, gave up four hits, three runs, and recorded four strikeouts.
In the last game of the series the team out hit CSN 8-7 and brought in five runs. However, they were once again defeted 7-5. Brinkerhoff went two for three with two RBI’s. Kort Christoffersen received the loss for the Eagles. He pitched four innings, allowing four hits, four runs, and punched in five strikeouts.
Head coach Scott Madsen said, “Over the past two weekends we have struggled throwing strikes. We have hit okay and fielding was okay. The pitching staff is beginning to find their groove and we are starting to get players healthy once again. We are improving each week and hope to be at our peak by the region tournament.
The team is on an 11-game losing streak and hope to end it in they’re games against the College of Southern Idaho this weekend in Twin Falls. The following weekend CEU will travel to Western Nevada to face Western Nevada College.