Cleveland State Baseball faced Tusculum College's JV squad on Tuesday in a doubleheader. The Cougars swept Tusculum, winning game one, 3-0 and game two, 21-4.
Ryan Inches was on the mound for the Cougars in game one, pitching 6 innings allowing 4 hits, 0 earned runs and 2 walks while issuing 6 strikeouts. Inches got the win in this one, moving his record to 3-1. Greg Tye came on in the 7th inning for the save and did just that, issuing one walk and one strikeout, closing out the game for the Cougars. This was Tye's second save of the season. Between Inches and Tye, together they threw a shutout against Tusculum, only allowing 4 total hits in the game.
The offense got started for the Cougars in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Cameron Hankins hit an RBI single, advancing Cameron Payne to second base and Trey Vanderpool to cross home plate. The Cougars increased their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning when Trey Vanderpool singled, advanced to second on the throw, allowing Trey Martin to score. Cleveland State score their final run in this game in the bottom of the 6th inning when Trey Vanderpool scored Brandon Martin with an RBI single. Cougars finished game one with the 3-0 victory. In total the Cougars had three stolen bases in the first match, Trey Martin with one and Trey Vanderpool with two.
The second game of the doubleheader ended in a mercy ruling. Tusculum started of the game with 2 runs in the top of the 1st. Cleveland State wasted no time in responding by adding 4 runs of their own in the bottom of the 1st inning. The Cougars continued, adding 2 more runs to their lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning, making it a 6-2 game. Tusculum College answers with two runs of their own, cutting down the Cougars lead to 6-4. We're now in the bottom of the 3rd inning and this is where the flood gates really opened for the Cougars. Cleveland State score an insane 15 runs in the second half of the inning, increasing their lead to 21-4 over Tusculum College. After a scoreless 4th and 5th inning, the game was called with a final score of 21-4 in favor of Cleveland State.
Here are the offensive stats for the Cougars: Logan Peterson and Tucker Mendenall each had a double while Trey Martin smacked to doubles. Hunter Oliver hit a 2-run home run and a grand slam. Trey Martin and Tucker Mendenhall each finished with 3 RBI's while Logan Peterson finished with 2. Cale Morgan, Sean Coakley, Caleb Collins and Trey Vanderpool each had an RBI themselves while Hunter Oliver finished with an outstanding 8 RBI's. Trey Vanderpool and Hunter Oliver each had a stolen base as well. The team has a whole finished with 21 runs on 19 hits, 20 RBI's, 6 walks and only 4 strikeouts all in 34 at bats.
Jackson Etter was the pitcher on the mound in this one, getting the win and improving his record to 2-0. Etter pitched 4 innings, allowing 4 earned runs, 5 walks while striking out 4. Corey Linz came on in relief and went one inning issuing 2 strikeouts to end the game.
This puts the Cougars at 13-5 (3-0) on the season while boasting a 10-2 home record. The Cougars will take on Motlow State in a three game series starting on Friday, March 9th with a single game and a double header on Saturday, March 10th.