Photo by Casey Porritt
By Cory McKendrick, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
The Utah State University Eastern baseball team traveled as far southwest as you can travel in the U.S. to Douglas, AZ to play a four-game series against the Cochise Community College Apaches over the weekend. Day one ended in two hard-fought battles with final results as losses for the Eagles. The scores were 2-8 in game one and 11-13 in game two.
Game one was a seven-inning contest that featured Karter Pope on the mound for the Eagles. The Eagles scored first in the top of the second inning on a two-out base hit from Hunter Lasko to score Parker Buys who had reached on a walk. The Apaches rallied in the next half inning to score three runs to answer back.
Buys and Lasko again got things going for the Eagles as Lasko drove in Buys who reached on a single in the top of the fifth inning. After a scoreless top of the fifth, the Apaches tacked on an additional run in the bottom half of the fifth and then three more runs in the sixth. The two big innings for Cochise proved to be the difference maker as they held USUE scoreless in the last three innings of play to win game one 8-2.
Buys scored the two runs for the Eagles while Lasko had two RBIs and Dylan Rodriguez went 3-4 at the plate. The Eagles scored two runs on eight hits, drawing two walks and playing a clean defensive game. Karter Pope was charged with the loss as he surrendered four runs on five hits, striking out four in his four innings of work.
Game two was a full nine-inning game that featured a ton of offense from both sides. The offense got started early in the top of the first with Dylan Sanchez homering to left-center field, scoring Rodriguez who had reached base with a single. Cochise answered with a run in the bottom half of the first. In the next three innings, the Apaches added 12 more runs.
Entering the top of the fifth, the Eagles trailed 13-2. They were able to hold the Apache offense scoreless for the rest of the game and tally nine of their own runs, but their comeback efforts fell just short, trailing 13-11 after the top of the ninth. Cody Lowe was a big part of holding the Cochise offense as he threw four scoreless frames after coming in to help stop the big inning in the fourth. Lowe surrendered two runs in the fourth, giving up three hits. Hayden Brock was dealt the loss in the game.
Rodriguez had another excellent game at the plate, going 3-4 with a double and two runs scored. Sanchez was 2-3 with a HR, three RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. Ethan Udy was 1-3 at the plate with a HR, three RBIs and two runs scores. Ryder Peterson chipped in a hit and two RBIs as well.
“We had many chances to be right in these ball games. Walks hurt us today in both of the games. The team came together in game two and fought back from an 11-run deficit and cut it down to only two runs. Cody (Lowe) came in out of the bullpen and allowed us to stay in the game. We are progressively getting better each game. Just little things are the difference in winning and losing these close games.” head coach Kirk Haney said of his team’s effort.
The following day, for the third straight game, the Eagles scored first verse Cochise Community College. The lone run early from the Utah State University Eastern team wasn’t quite enough as they lost the game 10-3. The thorn in the side of the Eagles was a big inning in the third when the Apaches scored six runs.
Bright spots in game one was Hunter Lasko and Dylan Rodriguez. They both doubled in the game with Rodriguez’ double driving in two runs for the Eagles.
In game two of the day, Parker Buys started on the mound for USUE. He pitched through four innings and left the ball game with his team trailing 6-1. The comeback started in the top of the fifth inning. Drew Staley got the inning going with a double. Karter Pope followed with a huge momentum-building homerun, bringing the score to 6-3.
Ethan Udy kept the momentum going with a single, followed by a Rodriguez single and a Dawson Hall walk. Dylan Sanchez delivered a two RBI single to left field, scoring Udy and Rodriguez. Hall later scored on an Apache miscue to tie the game at six. Cochise scored two in the following inning and this was the last time they scored in the game. With the current score of 8-6 in favor of Cochise, the flood gates of offense were opened for USUE.
Pope singled and was driven in by an Ethan Udy homer, Udy’s second homerun of the series. Cooper Ohlson broke the tie after a Hall double, a Sanchez and Ryder Peterson walk, with a single that plated two. This gave the Eagles the lead and they never looked back. USUE scored five in the seventh inning, one in the eighth and four in the ninth to win the last game of the series 18-8.
Kaden Stewart was credited with the win and came in and threw four scoreless innings in relief, good enough for the win on the mound. Notables on offense for the Eagles were E. Udy, who went 2-5 with a HR and two RBIs; Sanchez, who went 3-4 with three RBIs; and Pope, who went 3-5 with a HR and four RBIs.
The Eagles are scheduled to play their first home games on Feb. 21 and 22 against Dawson Community College. These will be the next games they play. They play the following weekend, Feb. 28 and 29, against the Utah State University club team, and then start conference play.