Cougars Roll Past Southwest Tennessee
Cleveland State took on Southwest Tennessee in a three game series at Southwest Tennessee this weekend, winning games one and two with game three being rained out.
The Cougars defeated Southwest by a score of 9-1 in game one. Hooper Mills was on the mound for the Cougars, pitching a complete game, allowing only 1 earned run while striking out 11 total batters. Mills received the win in this matchup, moving his season record to 7-2. The scoring got started in the 2nd inning when Logan Peterson wasted no time in launching a home run for the first run of the game. Joey Roberson also scored in the inning, off of a fielding error by Southwest Tennessee. Cleveland State extended their lead in the 3rd, when Joey Roberson smacked an RBI single, scoring Hunter Oliver. The 4th inning saw yet another Cleveland State run, as Cameron Hankins scored off of a fielder's choice. Trey Vanderpool scored in the 6th inning and Southwest Tennessee put up their only run in the game, pushing the score to 5-1 in favor of the Cougars. Cleveland State continued to pour it on, scoring 4 more runs in the 7th inning, taking game one from Southwest Tennessee, 9-1.
In total, the Cougars scored 9 runs off of 13 hits. Cleveland State drew two walks and struck out 6 times while leaving 7 runners on base.
Game two was a closer affair but the Cougars came out in this one victorious again, defeating Southwest Tennessee, 6-4. Ryan Lloyd was the starter for the Cougars in game two, pitching 5 innings, allowing 2 earned runs, 3 walks while striking out 3. Lloyd received the win in game two, moving his record to 3-4 on the season. Cleveland State again scored first in game two thanks to a Logan Peterson RBI double, advancing Hunter Oliver to third while scoring Noah Hill. With Oliver on third and Peterson on second, Joey Roberson steps up and hits a double of his own, this time scoring both Peterson and Oliver giving the Cougars a 3-0 lead. Southwest Tennessee answered, scoring four runs of their own in the 3rd and 4th innings to take the lead at 4-3. It's now the 5th inning and Joey Roberson steps up to plate. Roberson ropes an RBI single which advanced Peterson to second while scoring Oliver. Cameron Payne follows up with an RBI single of his own and scores Peterson, advancing Roberson to third. Trey Vanderpool is now at the plate in the 5th inning, hitting the Cougars third RBI single in a row, scoring Joey Roberson, move the score to 6-4 in favor of the Cougars. After a pair of scoreless 6th and 7th innings, Cleveland State takes game two, 6-4 against Southwest Tennessee.
Overall, Cleveland State score 6 runs off of 15 hits in game two, while only striking out 3 times. The Cougars drew one walk and left 9 runners on base in the second game of the series.
Game 3 of the series was cancelled due to inclement weather and will not be rescheduled.
The two wins moves the Cougars record to 31-14 (11-9), breaking their .500 conference record. The Cougars are currently riding a 9 game winning streak and will look to keep it alive as they travel to Tusculum College for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 18th starting at 2:00 PM.
