Cleveland State took on Dyersburg State in their final home series of the regular season this weekend. The Cougars won game one, 6-4, but lost games two and three, 8-1, 10-2.
Hooper Mills was on the mound for the Cougars in game one, pitching 5.2 innings, allowing 3 earned runs, 3 walks while striking out 4. Jared McDonald and Tyler Zak came on in relief and combined for 2.1 innings pitched, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Greg Tye nailed down the save, pitching the 9th innings, walking one batter while striking out two. Mills received the win in game one, pushing his season record to 8-2.
The Cougars took the lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a Hunter Oliver RBI double. Cleveland State added 4 more runs to their lead in the second when Hunter Oliver crushed a grand slam over the left field wall. The Eagles responded with a run of their own in the 3rd inning but it was all they could muster. With the bases loaded in the 4th innings, Logan Peterson draws a walk, which moved Trey Vanderpool across home plate to give the Cougars a 6-1 lead. Dyersburg State attempted the comeback, scoring 3 runs in the 6th inning, but the Cougars were able to stop the bleeding before the Eagles could take back the lead. After a scoreless 7th, 8th and 9th innings, Cleveland State won with a final score of 6-4.
In total, the Cougars scored 6 runs off of 7 hits while drawing 7 walks. Hunter Oliver and Trey Vanderpool each doubled in the game while Vanderpool also finished with a stolen base.
Ryan Lloyd was on the mound in game two for the Cougars and pitche 5.2 innings, giving up 7 earned runs and 4 walks, while striking out 2 batters. Brock Browning came on in relief, pitching 1.1 innings giving up a walk and 3 hits. Lloyd took the loss, moving his season record to 3-5.
The Cougars struggled to find any offense as they scored just 1 run off of 6 hits. They drew only 1 walk and struck out 6 times. Cameron Payne scored the lone run for the Cougars as Trey Vanderpool roped an RBI triple, scoring Payne. That was all the scoring that would happen for the Cougars as Dyersburg State put up 8 runs to win the game with an 8-1 final.
The loss ended the Cougars 12 game win streak, which started back on April 3rd against West Georgia Technical College.
Game 3 went to the Eagles again as they defeated the Cougars by a score of 10-2.
Collin Grove was on the mound for Cleveland State, allowing 2 earned runs, 1 walk while striking out 2 in just 2/3 inning. Jackson Etter and Tyler Zak combined to finish the game, totaling 6.1 innings, 4 earned runs, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts.
Dyersburg wasted no time in game 3, scoring 6 runs in the top of the first inning and eventually 4 more runs in the 4th inning. The Cougars answered in the bottom of the 4th, as Joey Roberson scored off of a Cameron Payne ground out. After a scoreless 5th inning, the Cougars tacked on another run thanks to a Trey Martin RBI single, which scored Logan Peterson. Unfortunately the lead was too great for the Cougars and the game ended 10-2 in favor of Dyersburg.
This series puts the Cougars at 34-16 (12-11) and are currently sitting in 5th in the standings. Cleveland State will look to right the ship with their final series of the season on the road against Jackson State Community College. The road series will start on Friday, April 27th at 2:00 PM with a double header on Saturday, April 28th, starting at noon.