Eagles struggle at the end of a 10-day road trip
Utah State Eastern baseball’s second week of the long trip from Vegas to Phoenix, then to Douglas. The first game was against Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. The Eagles then made their way down to Douglas, Arizona to play against Cochise College.
The first game of the second week for the Eagles was against the Pumas. The Eagles started off the game scoring one run in the first but the Pumas took that personally and went and scored one for themselves in the bottom of the first. USUE scored another run in the fourth inning but that was it for them the rest of the game. PVCC scored one run in the seventh inning and scored another six runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the life out of the Eagles. The Pumas won 8-2. Hunter Gatti and Zak Nelson each had two hits while McGwire Jephson, Carter Perry and Tyler Nelson each had one hit. Preston Jacobson started on the mound for the Eagles throwing 6.2 innings with four strikeouts, Tahj Henrie threw 0.1 innings and Konner Candalot pitched one with two strikeouts.
The first game of the series against Cochise College was a pitchers’ game. Wayland Crane started on the mound for the Eagles and threw a complete game with three strikeouts. There wasn’t much action during this game on the hitting side while there was only one hit throughout the whole game. The Eagles didn’t have a hit through seven innings and while the Apaches had the lone hit. Mack Bright got walked during this game. Apaches win 2-0
The second game of the day vs the Apaches started off hot with the Eagles scoring three runs in the first inning and one in the second. That was it on scoring for the Eagles. On the other side of the field, the Apaches scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth and would walk it off in the ninth inning, scoring two runs. The Apaches won 5-4. Bodee Goins and Tyler Nelson each had two hits while Sawyer Hardman, Kaden Miller, Nate Rose, Hunter Gatti, McGwire Jephson and Zak Nelson had one hit each. Owen Teuscher started this game throwing five shutout innings with three strikeouts. Tanner Koefed came in and threw 1.1 innings with one strikeout. Carter Perry threw 2.2 innings and recorded two strikeouts.
The next day was a cold and windy day in Douglas, Arizona. The Eagles scored one run in the top of the first inning but the cold wasn’t stopping the Apaches scoring five in the bottom of the frame. There wasn’t any other scoring until the top of the seventh inning when the Eagles scored six runs, winning the game 7-5. Tyler Nelson had three hits, McGwire Jephson had two hits while Zak Nelson, Bodee Goins, Mack Bright, Nate Rose, Conner Bancroft and Kaden Miller each had a hit. Micah Del Rio started the game throwing 0.2 innings, Kade Hansen came in and threw 6.1 innings with three strikeouts, holding the Apaches to no more runs the rest of the game.
The final game against the Apaches started off slow with no runs scored through three innings. The Apaches were the first to put points on the board, scoring a run in the bottom of the third, scoring another in the fourth and scoring three in the bottom of the fifth. The Eagles would then take two runs back in the top of the seventh, but the Apaches scored four in the bottom of the seventh, slowing all the momentum down for USUE. The game ended 9-2 in Cochise College favor. Sawyer Hardman and Bodee Goins each had two hits in the games while Tyler Nelson, Nate Rose and Kaden Miller each had one. Landon Salvesen started the game for the Eagles throwing 4.2 innings with four strikeouts. Konner Candalot came in and threw 2.1 innings with six strikeouts. Sam Beck would come in and close the game for the Eagles with 1.0 innings pitched with three strikeouts.
The Eagles will have a few weeks off before they play their home opener on Feb. 23. Eastern will host Treasure Valley Community College in a non-conference battle.
