ETV 10 News stock photo by Jeff Barrett
USUE Press Release
Baseball won two games on the road against Colorado Northwest during their four-game series in Rangely on Friday and Saturday.
Led by the bats of Trevor Bender and Cole Fossat, the Eagles defeated the Spartans 12-6 in game one. Both Bender and Fossat had two hits, two runs and two RBIs in game one. Fossat had a two-run home run in the top of the third to get the offense going for the Eagles.
After a great game one win, the Eagles dropped game two of the four-game series 4-0 to the Spartans.
USU Eastern head coach Scott Madsen said that his team couldn’t get going offensively against CNCC’s pitcher in game two.
“We ran into a pitcher that controlled three pitches in the strike zone. He did a great job of keeping us off balance and made quality pitches in key situations. My hitters did a good job of grinding out at bats, but their pitcher had one of those days that everything worked for him,” said Madsen.
Despite the loss, Madsen said his team competed well all weekend and executed their game plan very well.
“We had opportunities to win every game. That is really all you can ask of your team, is to get the opportunity to win every game,” said Madsen. “We faced some disciplined pitching and hitting that made us work hard for everything we did.”
The Eagles would get a close win on Saturday during game three of the series. Sophomore outfielder Collin Wilson hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 5-5. In the top of the seventh, a Steven Ortiz RBI single drove Bender home from third base for the go-ahead score. Fossat came into pitch during the bottom of the seventh and closed the game out to preserve the 6-5 win.
Game four of the series was cancelled part way through the game due to weather and will not be made up.
The Eagles will now turn their attention to this weekend’s home finale against Salt Lake Community College. Earlier this season, the Eagles split with the Bruins on the road.
Coach Madsen said that he knows that his team will have to work hard to prepare for a very good Salt Lake team.
“They are an extremely fast team that takes advantage of every mistake that we make. They have some really good pitchers that will keep them in all the games. We have matched up well against them all season long and look forward to another competitive series with them,” said Madsen.
USU Eastern currently sits in third place in the conference standings, one game behind the Bruins in the loss column.
First pitch for the four-game series against SLCC will begin on Friday at 1 p.m. at Carlson-Colisimo field in Price. Admission to all four games is free and concessions will be available.
For those who cannot make it to the ballpark, all four games will be streamed live on the USU Eastern Athletics YouTube channel.