The Bruins and Eagles split the doubleheader Friday evening in Jacksonville, Florida with the Bruins winning game one 7-3 before dropping game two 8-3.
"The boys played great today," Head Coach Kyle Morrison said. "The Lord was gracious today as we got after it with the bats."
Mac Carroll started on the mound for the Bruins and had another quality outing with eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. He only allowed one earned run while getting out of a couple big jams including a bases loaded jam in the second inning. The Bruins bats got going quickly when Conley Burk hit in Evan Johnson in the first inning. Cody Kirkpatrick started the second inning with a bang hitting a home run in a long and patient at-bat. Evan Johnson and Cayden Kennedy each added an RBI in the inning as well to put the Bruins in front 4-1. Burk then added to his RBI count again in the fourth inning when he hit a two-run home run making it 6-1. The Eagles were able to add a couple runs but the Bruins kept them from a comeback and won game one 7-3.
Coach Morrison had this to say about game one: "Mac Carroll had a phenomenal first game; he just needs to learn to settle into the game and get his pitch count lower. Evan Johnson really stepped up and felt like the threat we know he can be. Conley Burk is really leading these guys and it was great to have him back in the lineup tonight. Cody Kirkpatrick swung a great bat as well and Jason Quillin was phenomenal at shutting down the game."
In game two, the Eagles bats came alive and did some damage with basehits early. They were able to jump out to a 8-0 lead after scoring six runs in a big third inning. The Bruins were able to get a few back in the fourth inning but couldn't find any more runs in the final innings. Gabe Swarms came in to pitch relief and had a great outing not allowing any runs on four hits. With the good effort, the Bruins still fell 8-3 in game two.
"The second game was tough," Coach Morrison said. "We've got to learn to not plateau in the second game and that starts with me. I've got to make adjustments with my preparations for game two of a double header. They've always been the toughest to win. However, Gabe Swarms absolutely shoved, and it was awesome to see him compete and do well again."
The Bruins and Eagles are back in action tomorrow afternoon to decide the series. The first pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. from Jacksonville, Florida.
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