WNC Baseball: Wildcats stays on heels of Utah State Eastern for win

While his batting average has languished for most of the season, Western Nevada College sophomore catcher Sam Salyers' work ethic has not.

Extra batting practice paid off for Salyers on Friday afternoon as his two-run single was the difference in the Wildcats' 3-2 baseball victory over Utah State University Eastern at John L. Harvey Field in Carson City.

Freshman Chandler Barkdull's grand slam and sophomore Brogan Secrist's three-run double propelled the Wildcats to a 15-1 five-inning victory in the second game as WNC continued its hot pursuit of first-place College of Southern Nevada in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

"My swing feels good, and this is most confident that I have been hitting all year," Salyers said. "When I get up there, I don't care how many strikes there are, what the situation is; I feel I can execute it."

The twin bill sweep moved WNC to 25-9 in conference play, one and a half games behind the Coyotes, who were scheduled to play host to College of Southern Idaho in a Friday night twin bill.

"There's always going to be a shot," Barkdull said. "We have to keep going, keep grinding and don't stop working no matter what."

Salyers provided two of the Wildcats' six hits off Eastern Utah ace Bennett Bradford.

"He's staying diligent and not getting down on himself," said WNC hitting coach Aaron Demosthenes. "It's great to see a guy like that get a couple of hits."

Salyers has been taking additional batting practice in the team's indoor practice facility throughout the season.
"It's nice to have Sam behind the plate, so if he can provide a little boost, then that's a huge plus," Demosthenes said. "That's what these guys want to hang their hat on, to be a tough out one through nine."

WNC coach D.J. Whittemore divided the pitching duties in both games.

"We've been relying on six guys throwing the bulk of the innings all year, so we have to make sure they are pretty fresh at the end," Whittemore said.

Matt Young worked four scoreless innings in the opener, needing only 47 pitches to earn his seventh win in 12 decisions. Josh Mill gave up six hits over the final three innings but earned his fifth save with two important strikeouts.

In the second-game rout, Chase Kaplan picked up his eighth win without a loss by throwing one-hit ball over three innings. Ty Fox worked the final two innings, surrendering two hits and an unearned run while striking out three Golden Eagles.

"Kaplan looked good, like he's going to be a force down the stretch," Whittemore said. "Matt had a good curveball going today."

Barkdull and Secrist combined for three extra-base hits and nine RBI in the second game. Neither one started in the first game of the doubleheader.

"Coach 'Demo' deserves a lot of the credit for coaching every hitter on the roster," Whittemore said. "Those guys deserve credit for continuing to grind during the week and being ready to go when their number is called. We pride ourselves on having a team, not just nine guys."

Young prevented the Golden Eagles from scoring in the first inning after Austin Geurtsen reached third base with one out. The Wildcats' left-hander kept Eastern Utah off the scoreboard with a strikeout and a groundout.
A two-out double by Tim Lichty put WNC on top, 1-0, in the bottom of the first. Chad Bell's double to the left-center gap set up the scoring chance.

Salyers delivered his clutch single in the fourth, providing the Wildcats with some breathing room. Daniel Nist sacrificed Lichty and Bradley Lewis into scoring position, then, with two outs, Salyers singled up the middle to score both Wildcats for a 3-0 WNC lead.

"I just tried to barrel something up and it fell," Salyers said.

Young left after four shutout innings. He gave up two hits and fanned four.

The Golden Eagles missed an opportunity to end the shutout in the fifth, when Salyers and Mill combined to throw out Cory McKendrick at the plate, ending that threat.

But Eastern Utah tightened the score in the sixth, sending seven hitters to plate without the benefit of hitting a ball out of the infield. An infield single, a hit by pitch and a bunt single loaded the bases with one out. Mill walked pinch-hitter Colton Hill to plate Ridge Nielson with the Golden Eagles' first run. With the potential lead run on first base, Mill struck out Trevor Clingman on a full-count fastball located on the outside corner. The bases were left loaded when McKendrick popped up to shortstop Casey Cornwell.

The Golden Eagles threatened again in the seventh. One-out base hits by Brandon Eyring and Geurtsen put the potential tying run on base. Nielson's groundout to Nist at first base moved Eyring and Geurtsen to third and second bases, respectively, with two outs. Nathan Hedberg's infield base hit between short and second base on a full-count pitch knocked in Eyring, cutting WNC's lead to 3-2.

"We would have liked to pile on some more runs; 3-2 games are fun until they come back to beat you," Salyers said.

When Mill recorded a second strike on Austin Pitcher with a fastball on the outside corner, he and Salyers finished off the hitter. Pitcher took a curveball looking for the final out.

"Josh made some really great pitches that I thought for sure that they would swing at them," Salyers said. "Kudos to them. They did a fantastic job laying off some really good pitches. But when Josh really needed it, he came through."

The tight opener precipitated a blowout in Game 2. In the first inning, DJ Peters knocked in Barkdull with a double into the right-field corner, and Peters came home when the Eastern Utah booted Lichty's grounder to short.

"They had their dude (Bradford) going in that first game; he's a good pitcher," Secrist said. "We wanted to come out fired up in the second game because we're like, 'These guys are here to play.' "

WNC saw five Eastern Utah pitchers during a nine-run third inning. Bell and Nist cracked two-run doubles prior to Barkdull's enormous first home run in a Wildcat uniform. Barkdull took a changeup over the left-field fence for a grand slam, putting WNC ahead 11-0.

"I was expecting off-speed there, so I was ready for it," Barkdull said. "It had about 25 feet before it was foul, but at first, I had a little scare that it wasn't going to go."

Secrist and Barkdull conspired to knock in the Wildcats' final four runs in the fourth inning. With two two-out walks and a hit batter preceding him, Secrist cleared the bases with a two-bagger into the left-center gap.
"I hit a hanging curveball," said Secrist, who hit the double off Zac Lundell, the seventh Eastern Utah pitcher. "If they are going to throw it over the plate, we've got to hit it."

Barkdull followed with a bloop RBI double to right field.

The Wildcats (35-15 overall) and Golden Eagles meet for two more games on Saturday, starting at noon at John L. Harvey Field.