Photo by Jeff Barrett
By Jose Briseno, USU Eastern Athletics
The Utah State University Eastern Eagles took the field for the first time since early February to take on the Colorado Northwestern (CNCC) Spartans. The series with the Spartans marks the beginning of conference play for the Eagles. Due to field conditions, the Eagles and Spartans moved the series to Salt Lake Community College.
The USU Eastern and CNCC split the two games on Friday, 8-12 and 11-0.
In the first game, Eastern jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first inning as Vaughn Deming, Tyler Nelson and Ty Barker recorded RBIs to give the Eagles the early advantage. Davis Kirby singled in the top of the second to score Gavin Douglas to push Eastern’s lead to 5-0.
CNCC cut the Eastern lead to 5-1 after an RBI triple, but Dakari Armendariz drove in Deming to get Eastern its five-run lead back.
The bottom of the third was kind to the Spartans as Colorado Northwestern scored four runs to pull within one. The Eagles did their best to distance themselves from CNCC after Luke Erickson and Deming drove in a run each to give Eastern a 8-5 lead.
CNCC exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to claim a 12-8 lead. Eastern and CNCC would go scoreless for the remainder of the game to finish 12-8 in favor of the Spartans.
Game two was all USU Eastern as Tyler Fitch dominated on the mound. Fitch tossed all seven innings in the 11-0 run-rule victory for Eastern. Fitch finished with 10 strikeouts and allowed just four baserunners (two hits and two walks).
Both teams struggled offensively in the first four innings. The Eagles finally broke through on an RBI triple by Tyler Nelson. Gavin Douglas singled shortly after to extend USUE’s lead to 2-0 after four innings. Douglas drove in another run in the sixth and then Seth Nate doubled to score Douglas and Nelson, giving Eastern a 5-0 lead. Nate then scored on an error by the Spartans.
Vaughn Deming hit a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to give Eastern a 9-0 lead. Douglas drove in Nelson to put the run-rule in effect and Mogle singled to score Douglas to provide the final run of the afternoon. Deming ended the day with six RBIs while Douglas added four hits on the day.
The Eagles and Spartans then collided for the final two games of the series, which ended in a 1-1 day for USU Eastern. The Spartans shut down the Eagles in game one, winning 4-0, but USUE bounced back in the series finale, 3-2, to even the series.
Eastern’s hitters were limited to just five hits and one walk as CNCC’s pitcher proved to be too much for the Eagles. Douglas had two hits to lead Eastern, but the Eagle bats lapsed with runners on base, leaving five Eagles stranded.
Despite leaving seven runners on base, the Eagles bounced back to win a 3-2 thriller over CNCC. CNCC jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Eastern after stringing together multiple hits. Conner Bancroft then scored on a Spartan error to cut the lead to one run. Tyler Nelson hit a sacrifice fly to score Davis Kirby and tie the game at two headed into the bottom of the sixth.
Both pitchers held the other scoreless until Deavin Lopez drove a solo home run over the right-field wall to give Eastern the late 3-2 lead. Pitcher Micah Del Rio closed the door on the Spartans as USU Eastern earned a split of the series. Del Rio earned the win on the mound after tossing five scoreless innings, striking out six batters and walking three. He did not surrender a hit in his innings of work.
The Eagles will return to the field this weekend as they will return to Salt Lake to face the Bruins of Salt Lake Community College.