CBU players Shine in 11-3 win over the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks

The Mat-Su Miners defeated the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks 11-3. The Miners move to 4-2 in the conference standings while the River Chinooks remain winless in the Alaska Baseball League. 

California Baptist's Michael Malki got the start for the Miners and didn't disappoint. The young right-handed pitcher threw five innings, giving up just two earned runs on four hits. However, Malki's 10 strikeouts were the most by a Mat-Su pitcher so far this year. 

The Miners might have won the game 11-3, but the bats were non-existent in the first three innings for Mat-Su, and the River Chinooks had the 2-0 lead entering the top of the fourth after Malki gave up his only two runs on a scorched line drive right by the glove of third baseman Karson Grout in the bottom of the second. 

However, the Miners' bats would get hot in the second time through the order, and Mat-Su scored in five of the last six innings, including three in the fifth and three in the ninth. Iowa catcher Carter Geffre led off the scoring for the Miners in the top of the fourth on a RBI single that scored Eliot Medlock. 

Medlock and Cole Funkhouser's RBI singles in the top of the first, combined with a Lincoln Stephenson two-RBI single to center field in the top of the sixth, quickly made the game 6-2. Johnson College's Luke Wilson and, again, Eliot Medlock would come through with two more RBI singles in the eighth before the late-night scoring was capitalized with a three-run home run by Cal Baptist's Carter Eberhard in the top of the ninth. 

Mat-Su gets a must-win with a statement win in Chugiak before traveling down to Anchorage Friday night for a highly anticipated matchup against the Anchorage Bucs. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Dylan VanderVeen
2025 Mat-Su Miners Broadcaster