Cougars Win One and Lose Two at Pellissippi State

Cleveland State's offense put up 23 runs over the weekend, but lost two of three games at Pellissippi State (10-7, 5-4).

"Guys swung the bats well all weekend," Cleveland State head baseball coach Aaron Bryant said. "Got to continue to get better."

The Cougars (9-11, 5-4) had a tough time slowing down the Panthers in the first two games, going down 17-7 in game one Friday afternoon. Pellissippi scored 10 of their runs in the final two innings.

Catcher Ty Denton went 2-4 for Cleveland, homering, doubling and driving in four runs while scoring once. First baseman Nelson McKnight and third baseman Evan Goins also doubled.

The team's split a double header Saturday with the Panthers coming back taking a 13-12 win in game one and the Cougars putting together a dominating 12-4 performance in game two.

"Turner really threw well and we let one get away in game one," Bryant said.

Turner Junkins started striking out 11 batters pitching the first five innings allowing four earned runs on five hits while walking four.

Cleveland State took a 12-5 lead into the final inning of game one of the double header with the Panthers putting together an eight-run comeback winning on a walk-off single.

Denton hit his second home run of the series in the game. Centerfield Nate Dunfee and rightfielder Caleb Gibson each tripled while Mcknight, shortstop Aiden McClary and catcher Jacob Cooper doubled.

Cleveland State put together 10 unanswered runs to win the final game of the series despite being down 3-0 after the first inning.

Braden Suggs (1-2) earned his first victory of the season pitching in relief throwing the final 4.1 innings shutting out the Panthers while allowing three hits, striking out two and walking a batter.

Second baseman Dylan Owens drove in three runs for the Cougars, designated hitter Ryan Long tripled, drove in two and scored twice. McKnight also hit home a pair while McClary and Gibson each doubled.

Cleveland State welcomes Motlow State (5-8, 3-6) to Cougar Field this weekend for a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. with a double header slated for noon on Saturday.

Edwin Bear
Cleveland State Community College
Sports Information/Media Relations