Eagles 3-9 in conference play

This archived article was written by: Lindy Bluemel

After eight consecutive conference games played on their home field and a weekend in Henderson, Nev., Utah State University Eastern baseball program delivers a 3-9 record.
For opening weekend, the baseball team competed in two double-headers against Colorado Northwestern Community College. Splitting the series, USUE fought hard the first day, but fell short losing both games 2-1.
The team had three hits in the first game Friday, while third basemen Jesse Rowley scored the only run of the game. Batting eighth in the lineup, Colin Wilson had the sole RBI of the game. Facing 26 batters, Cole Fosset started at pitcher and had six strikeouts, walked two batters, and pitched 6.1 innings.
In the second game, the team had three hits again. Fosset hit a homerun to score the only point of the game. Second baseman Stephen Ortiz had the two other hits of the game, but fell short of any RBIs. Pitching six innings, starting pitcher Jarrett Hunt faced 24 batters and had four strikeouts, zero walks and gave up two homeruns.
Saturday consisted of two wins for the Eagles. In the first game, no home runs were given up by the three pitchers. Starting pitcher was Colton Hill who pitched four innings and gave up one run. Relivers were Jordan Raab and Kaidyn Longman. The team had five hits, two from Chase Stratton. Fossat and Jesse Rowley each got one hit and one RBI. The third hit came from first baseman Austin Pitcher. The final score, was in favor of the Eagles, 3-1.
The final game of the series against CNCC, the Eagles triumphed over the Spartans 11-8. Seth Butterfield led the team with four RBIs. Ortiz and Mitch Kay led the team in hits, each having three hits. Highest runs scored by an individual being three runs from Rowley. Starting pitcher was Chase Stratton who pitched five innings, giving up zero runs. Reliver Rigby Butikofer, however, gave up four runs in his quick 1.2 innings. Lional Colon subbed in to give up one more run before being quickly relieved as well. Zach Lundell came in and pitched 1.1 innings to give up the remaining three runs to the score.
Colton Hill said “In the games we’ve won our pitchers have done a good job attacking the strike zone. Our defense made plays and helped our pitchers out. We also were able to get big hits in key situations. In the games we lost, I felt like we showed a lot of fight, they were all close games. We started a little late and waited till the end of the game to put rallies together, but they came up a little short.
The second weekend of conference play consisted of a series against Salt Lake Community College. The team suffered three losses and obtained one win on their home field. Friday the games were both close and competitive, but the Eagles couldn’t pull out the wins, losing both 5-4.
In the first game, second baseman Ortiz lead the team with two RBIs and Lundell led the team in hits with two. Hill started the game as pitcher and pitched four innings, allowing four runs scored. His reliever, Jarod Lessar, coming in and allowing the fifth run.
The second game on Friday consisted of Chase Decoss leading the team with two RBIs and Lundell leading hits with two hits again. Hunt started the game pitching and allowed four runs, while his reliever Clayton Gess allowed the fifth. No home runs were hit in either games.
Saturday, USUE won the first game 3-0 with three hits and two of the runs from Pitcher. Chase Stratton pitched the entire seven-inning game with seven strikeouts and no scores.
The final game of the series against SLCC, the team lost 7-5. Lundell led the team with two RBIs. Butikofer started out rough pitching 1.1 innings and allowing two runs to be scored. Raab relieved allowing three more runs to come in. Kirk Haney and Fossat coming in to relieve as well. SLCC scored one home run this game.
As the team traveled to Nevada to play College of Southern Nevada, their performance fell short. The team fought hard but ended the weekend being swept by the CSN Coyotes. In the first game Fossat again was a leader for the team with two RBIs and two hits. Kaidyn Longman started out pitching and allowed five runs and one of his relievers allowed the remaining four runs. The final score ended up being 9-6 in favor of CSN.
The second game the Eagles only scored two runs, coming from Pitcher and Rowley. The Coyotes’ pitching staff was a difficult match up for the Eagles batting lineup. Hill started the game and allowed four runs. Relievers Clayton Gess and Landon Salvo allowed two runs each while the remaining pitchers that came in during the game all allowed one run in each. Final score 11-2.
Early on Saturday, the Eagles fought hard again, but ended up scoring one run against CSN’s five. Zach Lundell and Pitcher both had two hits, but Fossat had the only RBI of the game. Chase Stratton pitched five innings and allowed three of the runs while Raab came in and allowed the other two.
In the final game of the series, the Eagles struggled to find the sweet spot and allowed CSN to score 14 points to their one point. Trevor Clingman had the only run of the game. Starting pitcher Jarrett Hunt allowed six runs in 1.2 innings pitched while relivers Butikofer and Fossat each allowed four in their innings pitched. The team got 10-run-ruled after battling hard in nearly five innings.
March 24 and 25 Eastern travels to College of Southern Idaho to try and take a series from the Golden Eagles in Twin Falls, Idaho.