The BJU Bruins and Carolina Bruins scored a barrage of runs on Friday night as Carolina came away with a 19-10 victory over BJU at Conestee Park in Greenville, South Carolina. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 0-9 on the season and 0-6 in region play.
"We hate this losing stuff but it is happening to us," Bruins Head Coach Brent Casteel said. "When we get the edge and push we have to learn to keep on pushing. We have a lot of baseball coming up. I keep saying it, but we have to keep pushing and not give up."
The Bruins came into the game on the heels of a tough loss to Truett-McConnell University on Tuesday. Friday's game against Carolina would be the first of a three-game weekend series between the two teams as Henry Wallach took the mound for BJU.
Carolina came out strong with a first-pitch tripled which helped the team jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Bruins were able to get a run back as Rommel Acosta scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1 after two innings.
In the third, Carolina came right back as a single and a pair of doubles turned into a four-run inning to push the lead to 6-1. Carolina would add three more in the fourth thanks to a double by Dino Tharpe to make it 9-1.
The Bruins had their backs against the wall, but the team refused to back down as Bryson French drove in an RBI to make it 9-2. Cheo Arias then hit a triple to score two more as the Bruins cut the deficit to 9-4.
Carolina came right back in the 6th inning as scored four more runs to push the lead back out to 13-4. Over the next two innings, Carolina continued to find gaps in the field for hits while Grant Harris added to the lead with a two-run homerun in the 7th as Carolina led 18-5.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Bruins came right back as Bryson French drove in another run to make it 18-6. The Bruins then edged closer in the 8th as Jacob Granda drove in a run and Rommel Acosts singled to drive in another as the Bruins battled back to trail 19-10. While the Bruins had rallied, the team simply ran out of innings as Carolina finished off the Bruins in the 9th to win 19-10.
"I'm proud of some of the guys who came in and contributed tonight," Coach Casteel said. "We have talent on this team we just need to have that talent all show up at the same time. When that happens, it'll be a good day for us."
Bryson French and Cheo Arias led the Bruins as the pair combined for six RBI's on the night. The Bruins allowed 22 hits on the night while also leaving 10 runners on base throughout the game.
Next up, the two teams will be back in action tomorrow for a doubleheader with the first pitch scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
