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Game Results
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| Date |
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Results |
| 3/16/2010 | Gadsden State | 11-1 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The Cleveland State Cougars pounded the Gadsden State Cardinals into submission on Tuesday afternoon at Cougar Field as the home team racked up 13 hits and needed only seven innings to take an 11-1 win from their guests.
The Cougars took advantage of a pair of Cardinal miscues in the first inning to put three unearned runs on the board to take an early lead.
Gadsden State scored their only run of the contest in the third as Ethan Vineyard doubled in a run to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Cougars got two more in the fifth on a passed ball and an RBI single from Ryan Casteel and then ended the game by the mercy rule with a six run outburst in the seventh frame. Cody Hooper doubled in a run, Gray Hutchinson and Adam Hindman added a run-scoring single each to the cause while Troy Zawadzki chipped in with a two-run double of his own and Jeff Embree capped off the outburst and ended the game with an RBI single for a big 11-1 win.
Scott Laughlin started the game for the Cougars (15-7) and picked up the win with three strong innings of work while Jeremy Bales, Quentin Bowman and Josh Barrett all tossed a scoreless inning in relief. Dana Wright suffered the loss for Gadsden State. Lance Rorex, Trevor Burgess, Hutchinson, Hindman and Zawadzki all had two hits to lead the Cougars.
The Cougars will travel to Jackson State on Saturday for a big Region VII doubleheader.
Overall Record 15-7 | | | 3/15/2010 | Motlow State Game 2 | 7-1 Win | Overall Record 13-7
Conference Record 5-2 | | | 3/15/2010 | Motlow State Game 3 | 6-5 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The Cleveland State Cougars needed a last at-bat two-out miracle and a strong pitching performance on Monday afternoon at Cougar Field and that is exactly what they got as the home team swept a twinbill and the three game Region VII Conference series from the Motlow State Bucks. After taking game one of the series on Sunday in extra innings, the Cougars took game one on Monday by a final score of 7-1 and then pulled off a big comeback in the second game with a dramatic 6-5 win.
Gray Hutchinson got the Cougars off and rolling in the bottom of the first with an RBI single after Ryan Casteel had tripled in the first run moments earlier for a 2-0 lead. Cleveland State pushed their lead to 5-0 and inning later on an error and a two-run shot from Trevor Burgess.
Motlow scored their only run in sixth as Cody Midgett singled in a run to break up the shutout, but the Cougars got that one back plus one in the bottom of the frame on a passed ball and a single from Adam Hindman to finish off game one.
Tyler Brown (3-1) scattered five hits on the hill for the Cougars as he went the distance to pick up the win while Colton Robertson took the loss for Motlow.
The Cougars went right back to work in game two as they quickly jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Casteel blasted his second homer of the series for a 2-0 lead in the first while Troy Zawadzki and Cody Hooper hit solo shots in the second and third frames.
The error bug hit the Cougars in the fourth as Motlow scored four times on only one hit, a two-run single from Zac Mitchell, two errors and three walks, to take the lead 5-4.
The score remained right there until the bottom of the seventh as they Cougars found themselves trailing by a run with two outs. Lance Rorex drew a big walk to start the rally and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a fly ball to the warning track by Casteel. Hooper then ripped the game-tying single and Hutchinson followed with a gapper for a double and the game winner in dramatic fashion.
"To sweep this series was huge, especially coming back the way we did to win two of the games," explained Cougar coach Mike Policastro. "Lance turned in a gutsy at-bat to get us started and then Hooper and Hutchinson with the big two-out hits, that was great. Offensively we hit the ball well in the series when we needed too and really did a good job, 1-9 of putting the ball in play. Tyler Brown did an outstanding job for us today in game one as well."
Matt Lynum picked up the win for the Cougars (14-7, 6-2) in relief of Cody Ferrell who started the game while Cameron Jones took the loss for Motlow State.
Overall Record 14-7
Conference Record 6-2 | | | 3/14/2010 | Motlow State Game 1 | 6-5 Win 10 innings | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
Cougar Field resembled a windy day at Wrigley Field in Chicago with the wind blowing out on Sunday Afternoon as the rains finally subsided long enough to get in a Region VII Conference baseball game as Motlow State visited Cleveland State for the first of a three game set. The Bucks and the Cougars combined to hit seven home runs in the contest as Cleveland State would need an extra inning to post the come-from-behind win by a final score of 6-5.
Motlow State jumped on top with an unearned run in the first and a solo homer in the third by Cody Midgett for a 2-0 lead. The Bucks doubled their lead in the fifth as Zac Mitchell hit a two-run dinger for a 4-0 advantage.
The Cougars needed only three swings of the bat in the bottom of the fifth to slice into the lead in a big way. Ryan Casteel, Cody Hooper and Gray Hutchinson lit off the fireworks with back to back to back home runs and just like that cut the lead to 4-3.
The score stayed right there until the ninth as the Bucks put an insurance run on the board on a solo homer from Seth Brothers for a 5-3 lead.
Down to their last at-bat and last out, the Cougars struck in lighting quick fashion. Casteel Doubled and Hooper promptly tied the game with his second round-tripper of the day to tie the game at 5-5.
Scott Spears came on in relief of Cougar Starter, Travis Tingle in the ninth and quickly retired the side in the tenth to set up the game winner. Cody Ferrell started the rally with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Adam Hindman and then stole third. Troy Zawadzki then ended the homer-fest with a bunt single to score Ferrell and give game one of the series to the Cougars.
Spears picked up the win for Cleveland State (12-7, 4-2) while Aaron Pearson took the loss for Motlow. Hutchinson and Hooper led the Cougars with three hits each while Brothers and Axel Watson had two hits apiece for Motlow.
The teams will return to the field on Monday for a doubleheader starting at noon.
Overall Record 12-7
Conference Record 4-2 | | | 3/9/2010 | Olney Central College (Illinois) Game 1 | 1-6 Loss | | Overall Record 11-6 | | | 3/9/2010 | Olney Central College (Illinois) Game 2 | 5-6 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
That old baseball philosopher, Yogi Berra once said, "Good pitching will stop good hitting or vice versa." The pitching part of Yogi's quote rang true for the Cleveland State baseball team on Tuesday afternoon at Cougar Field as they dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Olney Central College (Olney, Illinois) Blue Knights by scores of 6-1 and 6-5.
Blue Knight pitcher, Zack Sterling turned in a sterling performance in game one as the took a one-hitter into the sixth inning while the Cougars had a hard time coming up with the big hit as the home team stranded 20 runners on the afternoon including leaving the bases loaded four different times.
Olney put single runs on the board in each of the first two innings in game one and then stretched their lead with three more in the third as Jon Hedges slammed a two-run homer and Geoff Bowers added an RBI single. The Cougars avoided the shutout as they pushed a run across in the seventh inning on a fielders choice.
Sterling went the distance for Olney to get the win while Josh Barrett (1-2) suffered the loss for the Cougars. Kevin Greene and Jeremy Bales pitched well in relief for Cleveland State. Bowers, D.J. Henderson and Derek Coverstone all had two hits for the Blue Knights.
In the second game, it was more of the same as Olney jumped out to a five run lead with two in the first inning and three more in the second.
The Cougars got a pair of those runs back in their half of the second as Cody Ferrell launched a solo homer over the left field fence and Ryan Casteel knocked in the other with a single.
The Blue Knights tacked on a run in the fifth as a strikeout reached on a passed ball and eventually scored on a single Andy Lasher for a 6-2 lead.
The Cougars strung three straight singles together in the sixth to scratch out a couple of runs as the first run crossed on a balk while Casteel knocked in the other with a single to slice the lead to 6-4.
Cleveland State made things interesting in their final turn at the plate as they cut the lead to a single run without the benefit of a hit by loading the bases with two outs. Troy Zawadzki pushed a run across by drawing a bases loaded walk, but the rally would end right there as the Blue Knights managed to record the last out.
Scott Laughlin started for the Cougars on the mound and took the loss while Scott Spears and Zach Driggers pitched well in relief. Joe Goodman picked up the win for Olney. Casteel went 4-5 in game two to lead the Cougars (11-7) while Ferrell and Zawadzki added two hits each.
The Cougars will host Motlow State in a three game conference series with a single game on Friday at 2:00 and a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
Overall Record 11-7 | | | 3/8/2010 | Wabash Valley (Illinois) | 9-6 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
A pair of Nationally ranked baseball teams butted heads on a beautiful Monday afternoon at Cougar Field as the 22nd ranked Cleveland State Cougars got back to their winning ways with a big win over the eighth ranked Wabash Valley Warriors from Mt. Carmel Illinois by a final score of 9-6. The Cougars banged out 13 hits along the way as Cody Ferrell and Matt Lynum combined to hold down the powerful Warrior bats.
"This was a big win over a quality team," stated Cougar coach Mike Policastro. "Cody pitched well for seven innings and kept us in the game and then Matt Lynam came in for the first time this year and throws two innings and gives up only one hit. Cody had a good curve ball today and Matt was almost unhittable. Offensively, we had good at-bats and put some runs on the board against quality pitching. It was good to bounce back after Saturday and play well."
The Warriors struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly and a solo homer into the trees by Tyler Oliver for a 2-0 lead. Gray Hutchinson got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame for the Cougars with an RBI single. The home team took the lead with three in the third as Cody Hooper crushed a double into the left field corner for a pair of RBI's and Ryan Mutchnick plated another with a single to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead.
Wabash scratched out single runs in the fifth and sixth but the Cougars widened their lead in the bottom of the fifth with four big runs. Troy Zawadzki doubled in a pair of runs and Hutchinson doubled in another run to push the lead to 8-4.
B.J. Willis doubled in a pair of runs in the seventh for Wabash, but the Cougars got one of those back in the bottom of the inning to take a three run lead once again.
Ferrell started and tossed six plus innings on the hill for the Cougars striking out 11 Warriors along the way while Lynam pitched two plus strong innings in relief allowing only one hit to get the save. Tyler Dunaway took the loss for the Warriors.
Casteel led the way for the Cougars (11-5) with three hits on the day while Hooper, Hutchinson and Mutchnick added two hits each. Willis and Oliver paced the Warriors (11-6) with two hits each.
The Cougars will host Olney College in a doubleheader on Tuesday at 1:00 and then get ready for a weekend Conference series as they host Motlow State in a three game series on Friday at 2:00 and a twinbill on Saturday starting at 12:00.
Overall Record 11-5 | | | 3/6/2010 | Chattanooga State Game 2 | 2-4 Loss | Overall Record 10-4
Conference Record 3-1 | | | 3/6/2010 | Chattanooga State Game 3 | 8-13 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The Cleveland State baseball team ran into the hard-hitting Chattanooga State Tigers on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Cougar field and dropped both ends of a doubleheader. The Tigers took a 4-2 decision in the first game and then out-slugged the Cougars in game two by a final count of 13-8 to take two out of three in the Region VII TCCAA Conference matchup. On Friday the Cougars won their tenth game in a row in the first game of the series as the home team banged out 13 hits for 11 runs.
In the first game of the series on Friday, Cody Hooper got things rolling in the Cougars first turn at the plate with a two-run homer while Adam Hindman and Gray Hutchinson doubled the score in the third with an RBI single each. The Tigers scratched out single runs in the third, fourth and fifth on a balk, a sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Dylan Coleman to cut the Cougar lead to 5-3.
The Cougars exploded for four more runs in the sixth as once again Hutchinson and Hindman each knocked in a pair of runs with singles to extend the lead to 9-3.
The Tigers didn't quit as they added three runs in the seventh as Andy Marinelli singled in a run and Zack DeBord followed with a two-run homer.
Ryan Casteel got two of those runs back in the seventh with a two-run home run to finally put the game out of reach and secure game one of the series.
Travis Tingle (3-1) picked up the win on the hill for the Cougars while DeBord took the loss for the Tigers. Hooper went 4-4 with 3 RBI's while Hutchinson and Casteel added two hits each. Gabe Herman, Taylor Eaves, Marinelli and Coleman all had two hits for the Tigers.
The Tigers played long ball on Saturday with three solo shots in the first game and a grand slam in the second to sweep the twinbill.
Taylor Eaves put the Tigers on top in the second inning with an RBI single while Ryan Mutchnick tied the game for the Cougars with a roller to second in the bottom of the frame.
Solo home runs from Adam Whitlock, J.D. Pullen and DeBord in the fourth, fifth and sixth gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead as that would be all that starting pitcher Matt Taylor would need to pick up the win. Tyler Burstrom tossed two perfect innings in relief to get the save in game one. Tyler Brown took the loss for the Cougars.
Ryan Mutchnick hit a solo homer of his own in the fifth, but that would be the extent of the offense for the Cougars in the first game.
Gray Hutchinson put the Cougars on top in game two with a three-run homer in the first, but after that, it was all Tigers as they put six runs on the board in the third as Adam Whitlock provided the big fly with the bases loaded.
A two-run single by Drew Fox in the third got the Cougars within a run at 6-5, but the Tigers got those two back in the fifth to regain their three run lead.
Adam Hindman air-mailed a two run dinger for the Cougars in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to a single run again at 8-7, but then the wheels fell off the Cleveland State wagon as the Tigers put the game out of reach in the sixth with four unearned runs. J.D. Pullen singled in a pair of runs, while three more scored on miscues and a bases loaded walk.
Will Phillips got the win for Chattanooga State while Josh Carpenter and Tyler Burstrom pitched in relief. Zane Leffew took the loss for the Cougars (10-5, 3-2) while Green, Spears, Zach Driggers and Cody Ferrell all pitched in relief.
Overall Record 10-5
Conference Record 3-2 | | | 3/6/2010 | Volunteer State at Columbia, TN | 59-66 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
COLUMBIA - The Cleveland State Lady Cougars came within an eyelash of upsetting the second seeded Volunteer State Lady Pioneers on Saturday evening in the semifinals of the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Conference Tournament, but couldn't quite get over the hump as their season came to an end with a heart-breaking loss by a final score of 66-59. The Lady Cougars took care of business in a big way on Friday to move into the semi's with an 84-58 win over Chattanooga State.
The Lady Cougars fell behind early, 9-4, but a pair of buckets from Jasmine Wilson in the paint put Cleveland State on top for the first time 19-18. The lead changed hands nine times the rest of the first half before Takeya Day stole the ball and put it up and in at the buzzer to give the Cleveland ladies a 31-27 halftime lead.
It was back and forth the entire second half as the Lady Cougars would hold as much as a nine point advantage, but each time the Lady Pioneers would answer with a run of their own.
The lead changed hands 12 more times in the second half as the Lady Cougars found themselves in a tie game with only two minutes to play. Tiffany Johnson hit a long 3-pointer to put the Lady Cougars on top 59-57, but the Lady Pioneers would come to the front as they proceeded to score the final nine points of the game to take the win
Taylor Neil led the Lady Cougars (20-8) with 18 points while Wilson finished with 14 and Day with 10. Vee Young and Nadia Givens paced the Lady Pioneers (23-4) with 16 points each.
Overall Record 20-8 | | | 3/5/2010 | Chattanooga State Game 1 | 11-7 Win | Overall Record 10-3
Conference Record 2-1 | | | 2/27/2010 | Southwest Tennessee Game 1 | 3-0 Win | Overall Record 8-3
Conference Record 1-0 | | | 2/27/2010 | Southwest Tennessee Game 2 | 13-12 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The Cleveland State baseball team opened up TCCAA Region VII Conference play on Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field with a doubleheader sweep of the Southwest Tennessee Saluqis. The Cougars pounded out 19 hits and 16 runs in the twinbill as they took game one by a final count of 3-0 and then staged an amazing last at-bat comeback to steal game two by a final score of 13-12.
The Cougars struck first in game one with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. Adam Hindman reached on an error, stole second and later scored on a passed ball while Lance Rorex added a two-out RBI single to the rally for a 2-0 Cougar lead.
Saluqi starting pitcher, Justin Wright and the Cougar's Travis Tingle took control of the middle innings as each hurler took turns retiring the opposition with relative ease. Ryan Casteel broke the scoring drought in the bottom of the fifth with a frozen rope that dropped beyond the left centerfield fence for a solo shot and a 3-0 Cleveland State lead.
That would be all the run support that Tingle would need as the big right-hander tossed all seven innings to complete the shutout and the win, allowing only five hits and striking out seven along the way. Wright went the distance as well for the Saluqis, but took the loss.
The pitchers duel turned into a slugfest in game two. The Cougars put five runs on the board in the second inning as Drew Fox knocked in a run with a double and Rorex followed with a three-run dinger later in the frame. Cleveland State tacked on an unearned run in the third for a 6-0 lead.
The score stayed right there until the sixth inning as a pair of Cougar errors opened the door for the Saluqis as they put five runs on the board in the sixth and six more in the seventh to take an 11-6 lead. Tyler Woodard hit a grand slam homer in the sixth while Kyle Lewis added a bases loaded double in the seventh.
Casteel got the comeback started in the bottom of the eighth with a single and scored on a double from Cody Hooper. Gray Hutchinson followed with a two-run homer and Fox added and RBI single to cut the lead to 11-10. Casteel provided the game winner as he came up with the bases loaded in his second trip to the plate in the inning and promptly unloaded them with a ringing double to give the home team a 13-11 lead.
The Saluqis made things interesting in the ninth as they scratched out a run and had the tying run on base, but the Cougars managed to get the last out and finish off the sweep.
Tyler Brown started the game on the hill for the Cougars (9-3, 2-0) while Kevin Greene, Scott Spears, Josh Barrett all pitched in relief. Zane Leffew got the win in relief while Zach Driggers came on to pick up his fourth save of the season.
Rorex had three hits in game one while Casteel added three hits in game two. Hutchinson and Fox had two hits each. Caleb Flexenhar paced the Saluqis with three hits while Lewis and Shawn Clarke added two hits apiece.
Overall Record 9-3
Conference Record 2-0 | | | 2/23/2010 | Young Harris College | 10-7 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The Cleveland State baseball team stretched its win streak to seven in a row on a chilly Tuesday afternoon at Cougar Field and at the same time handed the Young Harris Mountain Lions their first loss of the season. Quentin Bowman knocked in four runs and five Cougar pitchers held down the potent Mountain Lion lineup just long enough to post the win by a final count of 10-7.
Bowman put the home team on top in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run single. Young Harris took the lead an inning later as Chris Holloway singled in a run and Matt Lowery added two more with a double for a 3-2 lead.
Gray Hutchinson tied the game leading off the fourth for the Cougars with a solo home run while Brandon Rader plated a run on a grounder to the shortstop and Lance Rorex added one with a double for a 5-3 Cleveland State lead.
After the Mountain Lions cut the lead to 5-4 in the fifth, the Cougars tacked on two more in their half of the fifth and another in the sixth on an RBI double from Ryan Casteel.
The Mountain Lions cut the lead to 8-6 in the seventh on a two-run single from Lowery, but Bowman got those two back in the bottom of the frame with a two-run blast for a 10-6 lead. Young Harris added one more in the ninth, but that would be the end of the comeback attempt as the Cougars finally finished the slugfest.
Tyler Brown started the game on the hill for the Cougars (7-3) while Kevin Greene picked up the win in relief. Scott Laughlin, Cody Ferrell and Scott Spears all pitched in relief while Jake Montgomery took the loss for Young Harris (11-1). Rorex and Casteel led Cleveland State with three hits while Hutchinson and Bowman had two each. Lowery went 4-5 on the day to pace the Mountain Lions.
Overall Record 7-3 | | | 2/20/2010 | Vincennes University Game 3 | 7-6 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
A heat wave hit Cleveland just in time to get in a little baseball as the Cleveland State Cougars completed a weekend sweep of the visiting Vincennes University Blazers (Indiana) with a come-from-behind win on Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field by a final score of 7-6. The Cougars won a pitchers duel and a slugfest on Friday in the first games of the three game set, 3-1 in game one and 12-10 in game two.
Kevin Cyrus put the Blazers on top in the very first inning on Saturday with a long three-run homer into the tennis courts past right field to give his team a 3-0 lead. Ryan Casteel got two of those runs back in the bottom of the first with an opposite field shot of his own and just like that the score was trimmed to a 3-2 Blazer lead.
Lance Rorex led off the third with a solo shot to tie the game at 3-3 and the Cougars took the lead an inning later on an RBI single from Adam Hindman. Vincennes jumped right back into the lead in the fifth as Anthony Olund cleared the bases with a three-run double to put his team on top 6-4.
Cody Hooper dialed long distance in the bottom of the sixth with prodigious solo shot into the subdivision across the road from the field and then topped that an inning later by air-mailing a two-run homer to dead centerfield and over the scoreboard to give the Cougars the lead once again, 7-6.
Josh Barrett took over in the fifth for starter Zane Leffew and pitched well before handing it over to Zach Driggers who promptly slammed the door to pick up his third save of the series and of the season completing the sweep. Ross Boeglin suffered the loss for the Blazers.
"We really swung the bats well this weekend, it was nice to finally get some decent weather and I think that makes everybody feel better," explained Cougar coach Mike Policastro. "We pitched pretty well at times, but you have to give Vincennes credit, they are a good hitting team and they have some guys that can hurt you. So, it was a good series and we were fortunate to get the sweep."
On Friday the Cougars got the series off on the right foot with a doubleheader sweep of the Blazers. Game one was a pitchers duel as Travis Tingle turned in an outstanding performance for the Cougars, tossing six innings, allowing only four hits and one earned run while striking out six to get the win. Chad Martin pitched well for the Blazers, but suffered the loss.
Casteel put the Cougars on top in the bottom of the first inning with a long solo homer to left centerfield for a 1-0 lead. Rorex led off the third with a walk, stole second and third and then scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield from Hooper to double the Cougar lead to 2-0.
Troy Zawadzki chipped in with a one-out triple in the fifth frame and scored on a solid single up the middle by Casteel to push the score to 3-0. Olund singled in the only Blazer run of the game in the sixth, but Driggers came on to put out the fire and pick up the save and the win for the home team. Casteel had two of the six Cougars hits in game one.
Game two went from pitchers duel to slugfest in a hurry. The Cougars took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Zawadzki singled in a run and Hooper added two more with a mammoth homer to the opposite field.
Vincennes took its first lead of the series with a single run in the second and three more in the third on a passed ball an error and an RBI single from Austin Conley for a 4-3 lead.
It didn't last long as the Cougars tied the game on a double by Hooper in the bottom of the frame and then regained the lead with four in the fourth. Zawadzki had a two-run single while Casteel and Hooper added an RBI each.
Vincennes came right back in the fifth with a five-run outburst highlighted by a three-run homer by Alex Mitchell that curled around the right field foul pole for a 9-8 lead.
The Cougars would not be outdone on this day though as they finally put the game away in the bottom of the fifth with four more runs. Brandon Rader doubled in a run while Hooper became Mr. Automatic with two more RBIs. The Blazers tacked on one more run in the seventh, but Driggers came on to record his second save of the season and of the day to complete the sweep of the twinbill.
Cody Ferrell started the game for the Cougars on the hill while Scott Spears picked up the win in relief. Nick Meko took the loss for the Blazers.
The Cougars will play host to Young Harris on Tuesday at 2:00 and then open conference play on Saturday as Southwest Tennessee comes to town for a noon doubleheader.
Overall Record 6-3 | | | 2/19/2010 | Vincennes University Game 1 | 3-1 Win | | Overall Record 4-3 | | | 2/19/2010 | Vincennes University Game 2 | 12-10 Win | | Overall Record 5-3 | | | 2/17/2010 | Tusculum College JV Game 1 | 8-2 Win | | Overall Record 2-3 | | | 2/17/2010 | Tusculum College JV Game 2 | 14-3 Win | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
The weather was cold to say the least on Wednesday afternoon at Cougar Field, but the Cleveland State bats were on fire as they banged out 18 hits and 22 runs on their way to sweeping a doubleheader from the Tusculum Pioneers junior varsity team by a final score of 8-2 in the first game and 14-3 in the second game.
Ragan Rudisill hit a solo homer for the Pioneers in the top of the second inning to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Cougars got that one back plus one in the third as Ryan Casteel plated a run with a sacrifice fly and Gray Hutchinson added another with an RBI single for a 2-1 lead.
Quentin Bowman drew a bases loaded walk for an RBI while Lance Rorex pushed one across with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Ryan Mutchnick knocked in one in the fifth with a single to stretch the Cougar lead to 5-1. A wild pitch and a two-run single from Trevor Burgess finished off game one.
Zane Leffew got the win for the Cougars in game one while Josh Barrett started the game and Travis Tingle, Scott Spears and Scott Laughlin all pitched in relief. Zeke McGranahan took the loss for the Pioneers.
Cleveland State scored early and often in game two. The Cougars put a pair of runs on the board in the first and Mutchnick made it 3-0 in the bottom of the second with a long solo homer.
The Cougars then put the game out of reach in the third with eight big runs. Drew Fox started the rally with a two-run single, Troy Zawadzki added an RBI single, Brandon Rader chipped in with an RBI double and Casteel topped off the inning with a three-run home run to complete the eight-run outburst.
Logan Goodin broke up the shutout for the Pioneers with a three-run dinger of his own in the fifth. But, Jeremy Bales pushed in a run in the sixth for the Cougars with a bases loaded walk and Burgess added a two-run single to complete the contest.
Tyler Brown tossed four innings for the Cougars (3-3) allowing only one hit to pick up the win while Zach Driggers and Kevin Greene pitched in relief. Jon Roncolato took the loss for Tusculum. Zawadzki had two hits for the Cougars in game one while Rudisill had a pair for Tusculum. Fox, Burgiss, Rorex and Rader all had two hits for the Cougars in game two while McGranahan had two hits for the Pioneers.
The Cougars will return to action on Friday as they host Vincennes University for a doubleheader starting at 1:00 and a single game on Saturday with Vincennes at noon.
Overall Record 3-3 | | | 2/7/2010 | @ USC Sumter Game 3 | 3-6 Loss | By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information Director
SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA - The Cleveland State Baseball team opened it's 2010 baseball campaign with a long road trip over the weekend and three tough losses to start the season. The Cougar's bats were nearly as cold as the brisk February weather as the visitors were only able to manage three hits each in both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday, dropping the first game to the USC Sumter Fireants 4-0 and the second game 4-1. The Fireants stung the Cougars again on Sunday to complete the sweep of the three game series by a final of 6-3.
The Fireants got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the first inning in the first game on Saturday as Daniel Andreu doubled in a pair as the home team took a quick 3-0 lead. Sumter tacked on another run in the fourth which would be all the run support that starter, Tyler Christman would need as he tossed six shutout innings to pick up the win. Travis Tingle pitched six innings for the Cougars scattering six hits and allowing only one earned run to suffer the loss.
In the second game on Saturday, it was more of the same as the Fireant pitchers continued to toss zeros at the Cougars. Sumter put single runs on the board in the second and third frames and then two more in the fourth on a two-run single from Timmy Taylor for a 4-0 lead. Adam Hindman knocked in the first run of the season for the Cougars an inning later with a groundout to cut the lead to 4-1, but that would be the extent of the rally as the home team finished strong to sweep the twinbill.
Taylor Ramsey pitched five innings, allowing only three hits and one run to pick up the win for the Fireants while Logan Daniels tossed the final two innings for the save. Cody Ferrell took the loss for the Cougars allowing six hits and four runs over four innings while Tyler Brown didn't allow a run in his two innings of work.
The pattern continued on Sunday as the Cougars gave up four runs in the first couple of innings and played from behind the rest of the way. Trailing 4-0 in the third, the Cougar bats warmed a bit as Cody Hooper doubled in a run in the frame while Adam Hindman did the same an inning later and Trevor Burgess doubled in another in the fifth to cut the lead to a single run at 4-3.
The Fireants got those runs back though, with one in the sixth and two more in the eighth to finish off the game and the three-game sweep.
Ben Sauls gave up three hits and one run in three innings of work to get the win for Sumter (3-0) while Josh Barret pitched two innings to take the loss for the Cougars (0-3). Zane Leffew, Scott Laughlin, Scott Spears, Kevin Greene and Zach Driggers all pitched in relief for the Cougars.
After garnering only six hits on Saturday, the Cougars had nine on Sunday. Hooper led the way with five hits in the three game set, Lance Rorex had four hits for the weekend and Hindman added three hits.
"We didn't hit it that well, although we hit a little bit better on Sunday," said Cougar coach Mike Policastro. "Sumter is a good team and they got the two-strike hit or the two-strike pitch when they needed it and we didn't. That was the difference. We pitched pretty well, but couldn't do enough with the bats."
Overall Record 0-3 | | | 2/6/2010 | @ USC Sumter Game 1 | 0-4 Loss | | Overall Record 0-1 | | | 2/6/2010 | @ USC Sumter Game 2 | 1-4 Loss | | Overall Record 0-2 | |
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