After a weekend on the road, the Bruins baseball team returned home to Conestee Park in Greenville, South Carolina to face Truett McConnell University where they fell Tuesday afternoon in an 11-4 loss. With today's loss, the Bruins have lost six straight dropping to 2-7 on the season.
"I have to give Truett McConnell credit. They are a good team that is disciplined and works well with the fundamentals of the game. But I have to be honest, I don't think we came with the purpose to win tonight. I think we came with a purpose to play, but we didn't have the purpose to win," said Head Coach Brent Casteel.
Bob Jones came into today's meeting after falling in all three games at Carolina University last Thursday and Friday. On the other side of the field, Truett McConnell entered Tuesday's game 11-5 on the season after picking up wins against Kentucky Christian on Friday.
The Bruins looked to Reid Giggleman on the mound to get today's game started. Through a little over four innings of work, Giggleman finished with seven strikeouts before Noah Weaver came in to pitch for Bob Jones.
Truett McConnell went up 8-0 through the first five innings. As the bottom of the fifth rolled around, a triple from Riley Ramsey put the Bruins in scoring position. Next up to bat was Conley Burk. Burk reached first after an error from the shortstop allowing Ramsey to score and get the Bruins on the board.
The score remained 8-1 through the sixth inning until the Bears came through with three more runs at the top of the seventh to extend their lead.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bruins needed to make some moves if they wanted to cut down at Truett McConnell's lead. Chad Bayne was hit by a pitch followed by an error from the Bears to see Zay Brandt get on base. Up next, another triple from Riley Ramsey sent Bayne and Brandt home. A wild pitch allowed Ramsey to score allowing the Bruins to tally three runs before the final inning.
There was no change in the score in the final inning as the Bruins fell to the Bears 11-4 from Conestee Park.
Looking ahead to the their upcoming games, Coach Casteel said his team is working to make the routine plays, get the bat on the baseball, and finding the pitch we can square up.
Up next, the Bruins go on the road to face Maryville College in Tennessee for a three-game weekend series.
