COUGARS GO 2-1 IN BUSY OPENING WEEKEND
BARNESVILLE, Ga. – A busy Saturday proved to be a mixed bag for Cleveland State’s baseball team. The Cougars were unable to hand Gordon State a second loss, but posted a win over Columbia State.
BARNESVILLE, Ga. – A busy Saturday proved to be a mixed bag for Cleveland State's baseball team. The Cougars were unable to hand Gordon State a second loss, but posted a win over Columbia State.
"We continued to swing the bats well on Saturday and I liked the way we competed in all three games," Cleveland State head coach Mike Policastro said. "Our kids showed a lot of toughness this weekend and that should help us throughout the season."
The Cougars play Bryant & Stratton College (Va.) on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Their first home game of the season will be on Friday against Vincennes University at 2 p.m.
After defeating Gordon State 14-7 in their season opener on Friday, Cleveland State came up one run short in 10-9 loss to their hosts. An 8-8 tie forced the tournament game to be concluded in eight innings.
The Cougars had scored a run in the top of the first, two in the top of the second and two in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 lead over Gordon State, but were unable to get the strikes needed to contain the Highlanders' bats.
"We had a chance to will all three games, but dropped the game against Gordon because of our inability to throw strikes out of the bullpen. Hopefully our bullpen will learn from that and be ready to go next time out," Policastro commented.
Having scored a run in the fourth and fifth innings, Gordon State put together a big, five run inning in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead over the Cougars.
The teams found themselves tied at eight after the seventh inning, but Cleveland State was outscored 2-1 in the eighth and final inning.
Strong batting was present in the Cougar's first game on Saturday, where they had 16 hits. Hagan Kennedy and John Anderson both knocked out a homerun, John Hennen hit a triple, Chase Fullington had two doubles and Sean McDermott, who was 3-for-4 at the plate, had a double as well.
Hennen and Fullington both had two RBI, while Devin Gardner, Brett Browning, McDermott, Kennedy and Anderson each had one RBI.
Starting pitcher Jake Rogers threw for 5 innings, striking out four Highlanders and giving up four hits and two earned runs.
CLEVELAND STATE 9, COLUMBIA STATE 7
The Cougars quickly shook off their one-run loss to Gordon State and defeated Columbia State by two runs.
"We were able to come back in Game 3 against Columbia after a tough loss," Policastro said.
The Cougars banged out 14 hits, while the Charges had 10 hits.
After a slower start, which included a run in the top of the first and second innings, Cleveland State put five runs up on the scoreboard in the fourth inning to take a 7-1 over the Chargers.
The Cougars made it an 8-1 lead, but by the bottom of the sixth had allowed Columbia State to put five more runs up on the board.
Now up 8-6, Cleveland State added one more run in the top of the seventh and held Columbia State to one more run.
Included in Cleveland State's 14 hits was a homerun from Noah Hill, triple from John Hennen and doubles by Sean McDermott, Trey Vanderpool and Hill. McDermott had three RBI, Cameron Payne and Hill each brought two teammates in, and Hennen had an RBI as well.
Hooper Mills threw for five innings to get the win Saturday afternoon. Mills struck out five Chargers, gave up six hits and allowed three earned runs. Ryan Lloyd pitched the final two innings for the save.
Cscougars.com is the official website for Cleveland State Athletics. You can receive updates by following the official Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ClevelandStateCougarsAthletics, or at Twitter, @CS_Athletics.
