After some costly errors early in the game, the Bruins battled back from a five run deficit to take game one of the weekend series 9-5. The Bruins came alive in the bottom of the third inning to pick up their eight win of the season in game one of their final home series of the regular season.
"We came out tonight and I thought 'what is going on?'"said Head Coach Brent Casteel. "We sorted through some different things, and then I challenged them to step up, bring it, and follow the process. They grabbed a hold of that and just took off."
The Bruins and Mustangs got underway from Conestee Park Friday night in their fourth meeting of the year. When the two schools met a couple of weeks ago, the Bruins took the first two games before narrowly falling 18-17 in game three.
After six errors through the first three innings, the Bruins saw themselves down 5-0 to Mid-Atlantic Christian University.
The home team didn't give up and in the bottom of the third, the Bruins team would come alive. Chad Bayne singled to give the Bruins their first hit of the game. Just missing the fence, Isaiah Brandt came away with a huge double. A two RBI single from Colby Hogan got the Bruins on the board bringing the score to 5-2.
The Bruins inched closer in the bottom of the fourth. In the bottom of the seventh with bases loaded and two outs on the board, Daniel Wood came up with a massive three RBI double giving the Bruins the 6-5 edge.
Sprinting around the bases, a triple from Colby Hogan opened the bottom of the eight inning. As Riley Ramsey grounded out to second, Hogan scored lifting the Bruins to 7-5 over the Mustangs. With Cole Pearson on first after being hit by a pitch, Zach Burk stepped up to the plate and delivered a RBI triple. Next up was Daniel Barcena. He also was hit by a pitch to get on base. A wild pitch would see him advance to second as Zach Burk scored.
The Mustangs couldn't anything going in the final inning as the Bruins won 9-5.
Henry Wallach finished the game strong as he pitched his fourth complete game of the season. After the game Coach Casteel said of Wallach, "he is mentally tough and has learned how to be a true pitcher. He had to find the holes in their swings and the opportunities to get around what they already knew about him. That's the mental toughness we're talking about and that's why he was so successful tonight."
The Bruins are back home at Conestee Park tomorrow for a noon game against Mid-Atlantic Christian.
