By Jose Briseno, Castle Country Radio:
To move within just two games of Southern Nevada for third place in the SWAC, Eastern traveled to Rangely, Colorado last weekend and took three out of four games from Colorado Northwestern.
Game one started with a Ty Barker home run that set the tone for the Eagles as they overwhelmed the Spartans 10-0 behind a solid outing by starting pitcher Ky Decker. Decker allowed just two hits as the freshman threw his best outing of the year to this point. He lasted five innings and had seven strikeouts to two walks. Westin Corless closed out the sixth inning with a strikeout as the Eagles mercy-ruled CNCC. Vaughn Deming and Ty Barker led the Eagles offensively as each tallied four RBIs in the game.
The lone loss of the series came in game two as the Eagles fell 5-0 due to six defensive errors. Hayden Brock started the game for Eastern and lasted five innings while he allowed just two runs on five hits. Brock also had seven strikeouts. Jordan Brown threw the sixth inning and held the Spartans at bay. Brown allowed just one baserunner to reach base on a defensive error. Jake Mortensen was the only Eagle hitter to have multiple hits in the game, while Gabe Childs and Ty Barker contributed one as the Eagles offense finished with just four hits.
The Eagles were able to bounce back in game three as they once again dominated the Spartans, 12-1. Eastern opened the game with four runs in the first inning, one in the second, two in the third, two in the fifth, and finally three in the seventh. Scott Bahde and Dylan Hawkes left the yard for Eastern while Childs reached base in all five of his at-bats. Kody Nelson got the complete-game win on the mound for USU Eastern after he allowed just one run in his seven innings of work. Nelson struck out fourteen Spartans and walked just four.
The Eagles officially clinched the series with a game-four win by the score of 5-2. In Carson Hawkes’ first start since his no-hitter, Hawkes got the win as he went seven innings and allowed just one run on one hit and struck out nine batters. Riley Ashton and Tyler Fitch made appearances as well, each throwing one inning. Fitch allowed a run in the ninth, but the damage had already been done by USUE. Jake Moretensen scored in the first inning and then hit a two-run triple in the top of the third to extend the lead to three runs.
This week, the Eagles travel to Salt Lake Community College to take on the Bruins in an important four-game series. The Bruins sit atop the SWAC standings at 34-8 overall and 28-4 in conference play. The first game will be played on Thursday with first pitch being thrown at 3:00 PM.