CEU Baseball Eliminated in Second Round Tournament Play

By Sun Advocate

College of Eastern Utah finished the season with two losses and a win at region tournament in Henderson, Nev. last Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6. CEU beat College of Southern Idaho in the first round 13-8, but lost to Community College of Southern Nevada, 7-19.
The double-elimination tournament then placed the loser of the first round, CSI, against the loser for the second round, CEU, into a second-round game. The winner would advance to play CCSN in a semifinal game. CSI knocked CEU out of the tournament with a 11-1 victory.
In game one, CEU defeated CSI with 13 runs, eight RBIs, nine hits and one error over CSI’s eight runs, seven RBIs, 12 hits and six errors.
The game started out slow, scoreless until the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, CEU pitcher Zac Dinkins walked Ken Fugerland, who proceeded to steal second. Willie Crtalic then hit a single to center field, batting in Fugerland. But CEU responded with a quick double play, taking Crtalic out before forcing Sean Pitts out on a grounder.
Down by one, the fifth inning was a turning point for CEU. An error by CSI third baseman Cody Howerton allowed One Taumoepeau onto first. A single down the right field line let Taumoepeau advance to second and Crosby Oldham got on first. Preston Hanson then sent a single-base hit into right field, sending Oldham to second and allowing Taumoepeau to run home on an unearned run.
Adam Hutchinson hit a sacrifice bunt, and out on first, allowed Oldham and Hanson to advance to second and third. Then a second error by Howerton allowed Colton Ray to get on first while Oldham ran home and Hanson advanced to third.
Recognizing a weak point in CSI’s fielding, Tyler Jones sent a grounder out to third base. Howerton was ready this time, and threw to first for the out, but not before Hanson scored and Ray advanced to third. With just Ray on base, Colston Robinson hit a homer over the left field fence. CEU finished the top of the fifth up by four.
But that lead was to be challenged by CSI in the bottom of the fifth. With a man on third and a man on second, CEU was hesitant to lose their lead and sent in Kyle Graham to pitch. With no runs and one out left, the inning looked to end with CEU up by four, but Jordan Daley hit a single to left field, and advanced to second on the throw while McFarland and Martinez scored. The inning finally ended with CEU ahead 5-3.
CSI scored again in the sixth with a homer by Jeff Vickers, taking Eastern Utah’s lead down to one.
In the bottom of the eighth, CEU widened that gap. Another error by Howerton and a wild pitch left Taumoepeau on second and let Nigbur score. A triple by Oldham brought in Taumoepeau before CSI changed pitchers. Nigbur scored later in the inning on a passed ball, bringing CEU’s lead back up to four.
A triple by Fugerland followed by a double by Vickers brought CEU’s lead down to three at the end of the eighth.
Two more errors in the bottom of the ninth allowed CEU to get three unearned runs, to which CEU added two of their own.
An error and a wild pitch by CEU in the top of the ninth let CSI get two unearned runs and with one of their own, CEU ended the game with a 13-8 victory.
Eastern Utah took their first elimination in round two against the Coyotes.
After one inning, the Eagles were only behind by one, with the Coyotes ahead 5-4. The Eagles tied the game in the top of the fourth, thanks to an error.
But the first-ranked Coyotes were relentless and scored six in the top of the fourth and two more in the fifth.
CEU responded in the top of the seventh with two runs, but CCSN reciprocated with two of their own.
Down by eight, the game was all but over as the Eagles stepped up to the plate in the top of the eighth. CEU was unable to score, and CCSN added four runs in the bottom of the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, CEU was down by 12, had no runners on base and two outs when the game was called in favor if the Coyotes.
The final game for the Eagles was a blowout 11-1 victory for CSI.
Troy Grundy, a graduate of Carbon High, pitched seven innings for CSI. In those seven innings, he struck out nine of the Eagles’ batters and allowed just five hits and one run.
CEU started out the game with a rough start. CSI made four runs in the top of the first, three as a result of an error by Nigbur at first base and an throwing error from Taumoepeau in right field.
CSI scored again in the third, and four more times in the fourth after a homer by Fugerland was followed by a three-RBI homer by Pitts.
Southern Idaho scored again in the fifth with a run by Resser, bringing CSI to a 10-0 lead over CEU.
Eastern Utah finally got a point on the board when Robinson hit a triple and ran in when Cornia hit a grounder to the short stop.
CSI made another run in the top of the ninth to take the lead out to 10 points again. When Eastern Utah was unable to score in the bottom of the ninth, CEU finished the season with a 11-1 defeat against a Carbon High pitcher.
Coach Scott Madsen has a two-year record of .250. This year’s record of .212 is the lowest percentage CEU has had in at least nine years. Madsen’s brother, Eric who coached for seven years before him had a record over those years averaging .481, with the lowest average in 2000, when the Eagles won 16 of 33 games for an average of .327.