| With third baseman Danny Cornia waiting for the ball, CSI’s Ken Fugerland slides into third as the umpire crouches to make the call in a game at CEU in March. CEU played CSI again last weekend to finish regular season play. |
College of Eastern Utah baseball traveled to Twin Falls, Idaho, last weekend for a four-game series against fourth-ranked College of Southern Idaho. CEU won game one 6-5 on Friday, April 29, but lost game two on Friday, 0-1, and games three, 1-9, and four on Saturday, 0-3.
The last games of the regular season, CEU ended the series with a 9-30 SWAC record, 10-39 for the season overall.
Game one on Friday was scoreless until the bottom of the second, when CSI loaded the bases without hitting a ball. Pitcher Zac Dinkins hit Ken Fugerland and Willie Crtalic before walking Hector Martinez. A single by Cody Howerton brought in Fugerland and a sacrifice fly out to center field by Josh McFarland brought in Crtalic.
CEU tied the game back up in the third with unearned runs by Crosby Oldham and Danny Cornia.
In the bottom of the third, CSI’s Jordan Daley reached second on an error by Dinkins, but Jeff Vickers hit into a double play. First baseman Brett Nigbur took care of the out at first and threw to shortstop Colston Robinson for the out.
But Fugerland hit a double, followed by a single and RBI by Crtalic, who advanced to second on the play. Martinez then hit a double, batting in Crtalic and bringing the game to a 4-2 lead over CEU.
CEU tried again in the fourth to even the score, but a single by Nigbur and a sacrifice bunt by One Taumoepeau were not enough to get a run.
Eric Cattoni hit a double for CSI on the bottom of the fourth, and CEU decided it was time to switch pitchers and brought in Kyle Graham. This turned out to be a good move, as Cattoni was caught stealing just two plays later.
In the top of the fifth, CEU tied the game up due to bad pitching by CSI’s Todd Privett. Adam Hutchinson hit a single out to right field before Tyler Jones walked. A balk while Jones was batting loaded the bases. At this point, CSI pitcher Til Mealer took over for Privett. Cornia hit a single to right field and brought in Hutchinson. Mealer then hit Nigbur, bringing Jones home.
After the sixth passed with no runs, Eastern Utah again scored in the second. An error by CSI at third base allowed Hutchinson to make in to second with no balls and no strikes. Jones hit a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher and Hutchinson made third base. With CEU in a position to score, Sean Loglisci came on the mound for CSI. A wild pitch allowed Hutchinson to score.
With a fragile one-point lead, CEU changed pitchers at the start of the bottom of the seventh, bringing in Riley Gordon. Cattoni made it to second base after hitting a single and then a balk. An error by Robinson allowed Vickers to make it to first and advanced Cattoni to third. Gugerland then tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left field, throwing the game into an extra inning.
In the top of the eighth, Nigbur got to first on balls and a sacrifice bunt by Taumoepeau allowed him to get to second. A single by Oldham let Nigbur get to third. CSI then brought in Edwards as a pitcher. A passed ball then let Nigbur score, winning the game.
CSI was unable to score, and the game ended with a win for CEU, 6-5.
Game two almost made extra innings as no one had scored at the bottom of the seventh. CSI’s Sean Pitts scored, and CSI forfeited the third out, taking a 1-0 shutout.
Game three was another loss for the Eagles. CSI started with two runs in the bottom of the first. Fugerland made it home on a wild pitch and Vickers scored thanks to an RBI single by Crtalic.
CEU’s only point for the game was in the top of the second, when Nigbur hit a double and was batted in by Oldham.
In the bottom of the second, CSI got another run by Howerton. And in the third, tacked three more on the board with runs by Pitts, Vickers and Crtalic.
In the fourth, an error by Cornia allowed three more runs by Daley, Fugerland and Vickers. After two more innings passed with no runs, CSI forfeited the bottom of the seventh to win 9-1.
Game four was another shutout for the Eagles, who only had three hits in the game.
In the second, Crtalic hit a double and advanced to third on a balk by pitcher Kollin Killian. A single by Martinez brought Killian in.
In the third, CEU looked to score after Jones reached first on a wild pitch and around to third on an error. But two ground outs left him on third.
The fourth looked hopeful as well as Nigbur and then Hansen hit a single. But they stayed at second and third after a fly by Hutchinson to right field.
Southern Idaho chalked up another point in the fourth. Vickers hit a double and made it to third on a single by Pitts. A sacrifice fly by Crtalic brought Vickers home.
The sixth brought a third point for CSI. Daley hit a single to right field and an RBI double by Vickers brought him in.
Game four ended with a 3-0 win for CSI, shutting out CEU a second time.
The series ended with the CEU Eagles winning one and losing three. The team now looks to tournament play this weekend.