The Bruins baseball team battled back to force extra innings in their final game of the Saturday doubleheader but the team couldn't get that winning run as they fell to Carolina University 15-5 and 10-7 on Saturday. With the losses, the Bruins move to 0-7 to begin the season.
"I personally felt like we had a better team than they did," Bruins Head Coach Brent Casteel said. "For some reason, our guys are just not choosing to bring it when we need to and we continue to fall short. We have the pitching, hitting, and defense to be able to beat this team and we need to figure this out as we move forward."
The Bruins came into the Saturday doubleheader on the heels of a loss on Friday night. The Bruins had battled back from a 15-4 deficit to score seven runs in the bottom of the 9th inning but the rally came up short in a 15-11 loss. The Bruins hoped to bounce back as they looked to close out the series with a win.
In the first game of the Saturday doubleheader, Henry Wallach would be on the mound for the Bruins but the team fell behind early as Carolina got two runs in the first inning to lead 2-0. Riley Ramsey scored to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1.
The Bruins looked to battle back and take the lead, but Carolina exploded in the 4th inning as Josh Kent hit a grand slam to spark a 12-run inning for Carolina as the team took a 14-2 lead. From there, the Bruins couldn't recover as they went on to lose 15-5 in game one.
In the second game of the day, Josh Legnard would be on the hill for the Bruins and the freshman delivered a strong performance going 6.1 innings while striking out 11 batters.
The Bruins jumped out to an early lead in the first inning after Zach Burk and Daniel Barcena each drove in runs before Conley Burk singled to make it 3-0. Over the next couple of innings, Carolina slowly chipped away at the lead eventually tying the score at 3-3 in the 3rd.
The score remained deadlocked until the 7th inning when Carolina scored four runs in the top of the 7th to make it 7-3. The Bruins had one last chance and made the most of it as the team scored four runs on a two-out rally as Chad Bayne tied the game with a two-run single to make it 7-7. Unfortunately, the Bruins left the bases loaded as the game went into extra innings.
Both teams went back and forth in extra innings before Carolina scored three runs in the top of the 9th and the Bruins couldn't match it as the game ended with Carolina completing the series sweep with a 10-7 win.
"We know we can come back when we choose to," Bruins Head Coach Brent Casteel said. "We're trying to figure out what's going on because it seems like we are coasting some times while other times we are wanting to go get it."
Next up, the Bruins will be on the road on Tuesday as the team faces Columbia International University in Columbia, South Carolina.
