Playing from behind seems to be the way the Nevada Bighorns are operating these days much to the chagrin of head coach Dennis Young.
The Bighorns fell behind early in both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Washington Manor, and lost 10-7 and 16-9 at Western Nevada College.
"It's been that way the entire season so far," Young said. "I don't think we've ever been ahead. They like to play from behind for some reason. They kept fighting, though."
Indeed. The Bighorns' two best innings all day was their last at-bat in the ninth inning of the first game when they scored four times to make the score respectable, and the sixth inning of the nightcap when they scored six runs to extend the game to a full seven innings.
Washington Manor pounded out 35 hits, and Young was quick to praise his opponent.
"They came out and swung the bats," Young said. "They were swinging it."
In the opener, Washington Manor scored two in the third and two in the fourth to build a 5-2 lead. A four-run rally in the eighth extended the lead to 10-2 before the Bighorns scored one in the eighth and four in the ninth.
Facing a 10-3 deficit, Ryan Trosko and Chris Manship hit back-to-back doubles in the eighth, while Corey Matoyer walked with the bases loaded and Shane Kockenmeister delivered a sacrifice fly.
Jeff Young, Adam Anderson, Jon Sigado, Trosko and Matoyer all had two hits for the Bighorns.
In the second game, the Bighorns scored in their first at-bat on Chris Houle's run-scoring single, but Washington Manor answered back with three in the second, one in the third and four in the fourth to build an 8-1 lead. D'Anthony Rice's two-run double in the second and Ryan Moura's three-run homer in the fourth were the key hits in the surge.
The visitors tacked on five more runs during the next two innings to make it 15-3. Nevada needed to score to continue the game, and the Bighorns came back with a vengeance.
Trosko slammed a two-run double and Manship followed with a two-run homer to make it 15-9. Houle doubled and Young singled to put runners on first and third with one out. Matoyer killed the uprising when he hit into a 5-4-3 double play.
Washington Manor added one in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Kockenmeister, Anderson, Young, Houle, Manship and Trosko all had two hits in the loss.