Baseball Recap 3/13/18- 3/16/18

Our Eagles baseball team ended their spring break trip in Tennessee 1 and 5. However, they competed against three Division I NJCAA programs. Chattanooga State's baseball program did receive votes in the recent NJCAA Division I baseball poll. Coach Brown stated, "He was very pleased how his team went down and competed against these top-notch programs." He also added, "This trip was set up to help us prepare for our conference. Our guys now know what to expect each weekend for the rest of the season."

Here are the week's story lines: Tuesday's games against Roane State resulted in a 1-1 day for the Eagles. In game one, the Eagles took an early lead and never looked back. We came out with a 5-2 victory. Christian Rivera leads the offense with two hits. While Ethan Hardin earned the victory on the mound; he gave up only two runs on two hits over seven innings, while striking out six. Tuesday's night cap against Roane State, the Eagles fell short in an 8-4 defeat. Our pitching staff gave up nine hits. Christian Rivera, Vicente Castro, Jacob Hyer, Jacob O'Brien and Jevin Williams lead the way on offense.

Wednesday the Eagles traveled to Chattanooga State where they went 0-2. Chattanooga State's team received votes to be ranked in Division I NJCAA this past week. Game one of the doubleheader was hard to watch the game slip away early, and they couldn't recover in a 13-3 loss. The Eagles struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time defensively containing the Tigers hitting parade. Jacob Hyer took the loss with a short outing on the mound. Dustin Myers led the offense with a two for two day at the plate. In the night cap of the doubleheader, it was a different story for the Eagles. Both teams came out of the gate early scoring runs. Jack Miller took the loss for the Eagles after a tough day on the mound. He went four and a third innings, allowing four runs and only five hits while striking out two. Christian Rivera, Vicente Castro and Jevin Williams lead the Eagles offense.

Thursday's doubleheader against Cleveland State, the Eagles went 0-2 again. In game one we fell behind early, and we couldn't come back in an 8-5 loss against the Cougars. In the top of the seventh inning, the Eagles were able to score three runs to put a scare into the Cougars dugout. The offensive firepower in the seventh inning came from Dominic Kuzujanakis, Colin Minner and Jevin Williams. On the mound, Thomas Henry took the loss. He went five innings only allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out four. Christian Rivera and Dustin Myers each collected multiple hits for the Eagles.

In the night cap with the Cougars, the Eagles stayed in the game until the end, but Cleveland State pulled away late 13-3. The Eagles just ran out of pitching. The game was tied in the third inning 3-3. The Cougars #1 earned the victory only allowing the Eagles with three hits and three runs. Riley Weston took the loss for the Eagles. Our pitching was exhausted, the Eagles gave up three home runs in the game. JJ Smith, Austin Goffe and Evan Maxwell lead the offensive attack.

Coach Brown stated, "He was proud how the guys came out and competed against these good quality programs. He saw a lot of growth and fight in his players." "No one on this team quit during the week." "Everyone might think this trip was not successful with a 1-5 record. However; I see this trip has a huge success." "This shows we can compete with the big boys." "Our conference is one of the best in the nation, we normally have two or three teams ranked or receiving votes."

The Eagles play a doubleheader Sunday, March 18 at Miami Hamilton first pitch is noon. Then on Monday, they travel down to VA Stadium to take on OU Chillicothe with a 2 p.m. first pitch. You can see the Eagles back in action next weekend against Eastern Gateway Gators Friday, March 23 at Fairfield Park; first pitch is scheduled at 1 p.m.