Despite a grand slam and a three RBI home run from the Bruins, the home team fell 11-8 to Trinity International University Friday night from Conestee Park in Greenville, South Carolina.
"I appreciate the team we played tonight. They had good attitudes and played hard, but we should beat them and tomorrow we need to make that happen," said Head Coach Brent Casteel. "Our team has a lot more ability then I think they realize. We'll come out and play an inning and then the next we'll kind of take it off. We just need to turn the switch on every inning."
The Bruins and Trojans met for the first time on the field Friday evening in game one of the weekend series. Bob Jones came into the contest with a 2-11 record as Trinity International entered the weekend 7-7 on the season.
As the game got underway, the Trojans get on the board early in the top of the first inning. Trinity held on to the slight lead, but in bottom of the second, the Bruins came swinging. With bases loaded and no outs on the board, Riley Ramsey stepped up to the plate and hit the ball out of the park for a grand slam giving his team the 4-1 lead.
The lead didn't last long for the Bruins. In the top of the third inning, a two RBI triple followed by a sacrifice fly saw the Trojans even the score at 4-4.
The offense continued for Trinity as they scored five runs in the fourth inning to increase their lead. As the bottom of the fourth rolled around, Daniel Barcena stepped up with a three RBI home run to cut down at the Trojan's advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, a massive hit by Zay Brandt almost saw the Bruins with their second grand slam of the game. The ball was caught right at the fence line, but it still allowed the Bruins to get one run back for a 9-8 score.
After the Trojans scored two more, the Bruins were looking to close the gap in the final two innings. In the eighth inning, Cody Kirkpatrick came up with a two out triple to move into scoring position, but he was left on base as the Bruins went into the final frame down by three.
The Bruins looked to end their losing skid, but the Trojans finished the night on top with a final score of 11-8 to take game one of the weekend series.
When speaking of what his team is capable of, Coach Casteel said, "I know we can do it, but I hope we show up and decide to do it, and I think we're going to do a fine job tomorrow."
Both teams are back on the field Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 12:30 p.m. at Conestee Park in Greenville, South Carolina.
