By Loren Miller, USU Eastern Sports Information
Utah State Eastern baseball was swept by the College of Southern Idaho in a four-game series at home on Friday and Saturday.
The Eagles lost to CSI on Friday 15-5 and 15-6 with game two being decided in the final innings of the game. On Saturday, the Eagles fell in game three 6-2 and lost game four 11-0 in five innings.
The Eagles got two great performances on the mound in the series from starting pitchers Jake Smith and Hayden Brock. Smith started game three and pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts and only allowing two walks.
“He has pitched extremely well. He was in command of all his pitches and really did everything he could to keep us in the game,” said USU Eastern head coach Scott Madsen.
In game two, Brock threw in 5.1 innings, giving up only three hits and two earn runs while throwing five strikeouts.
“Hayden has consistently improved all year. He has turned into a great starter for us each weekend,” said Madsen.
In his final home series as an Eagle, sophomore outfielder Ryan Curtis had a stellar weekend at the plate. Curtis had eight hits, four doubles and four RBIs in the series while starting each game in the outfield.
“Ryan has been tough with each of his at bats. His is not only putting each ball in play, but he is getting extra base hits more than singles,” said Madsen.
USU Eastern will head into this week’s Region XVIII Tournament as the fifth seed and will take on Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC) in a single-elimination game on Thursday in Henderson, Nev. The Eagles played CNCC only four times this season due to weather cancelling their first series in early March. In their lone series against the Spartans, they lost three games to one with the three losses decided by four runs or less.
“It is going to be tough to beat CNCC. They have some talented players that play well together. We are going to have to play perfect baseball throughout the entire game. They are known for coming back and winning games. It should be fun to watch,” said Madsen.
The winner of Thursday’s game will take on number one seed College of Southern Nevada later that afternoon.
First pitch for Thursday’s game against CNCC is scheduled for 1 p.m. Mountain Time. Thursday’s game and all other tournament games can be seen on the Scenic West Digital Network at scenicwestnetwork.com.
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- Photos by Jeff Barrett
