Photo by Jeff Barrett
By Jose Briseno
With runners on first and second, freshman outfielder Mack Bright struck out to end the game as Utah State Eastern fell 2-1 to No. 1 Central Arizona last week.
The Eagles and Vaqueros battled in a low-scoring affair that did not see its first run until the sixth inning. Central Arizona scored on back-to-back base hits to take a 2-0 lead with three innings to play.
The Eagles struggled to score until the ninth inning when Tyler Nelson hit an RBI-single to score Ethan Hixson from second. Bright’s strikeout ended the game with the Eagles’ potential game-winning run standing on first.
Ky Decker started the game on the bump for the Eagles and tossed 5.2 innings. Decker allowed two hits and two unearned runs with seven strikeouts.
Westin Corless entered in the sixth and finished the game without a Vaquero hit, recording 10 outs on 38 pitches. He also tallied three strikeouts and two walks.
Offensively, the Eagles left nine runners on base while out-hitting the Vaqueros 4-2. Vaughn Deming recorded two hits to lead the Eagles while Tyler Nelson and Luke Erickson each had one.
“We had a chance to win the game,” said head coach Kirk Haney. “We needed to score runs when we had the chance, and we just weren’t able to do so.”
The Eagles will next take the field on Feb. 7 in a showdown with Cochise College in Douglas, AZ.