The Cougar baseball team took to the road on Friday afternoon to play the Motlow State Bucks. They came away with a split of their doubleheader, but Bryce Jenkins tossed a five inning no hitter in the first contest in a 10-0 win. They lost the second contest by a 4-2 final. The cougars now stand at 11-11 overall with a 4-6 conference record.
Jenkins was masterful in the first game as he struck outt 11 Motlow hitters while only walking four. It evens his record at 3-3 for the year. He would not allow a ball out of the infield as he struck out the first seven hitters he faced to start the game.
The Cougars jumped out early on RBI singles by Ryan McCarthy and Reese Plemmons to score J.D. Day and McCarthy. Caden Smith would score on a wild pitch and then Plemmons would score on a ground out to stake Jrnkins to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. They would add two more runs in the third as Kenny Naysmith would drive in Stokes Needham with a single, and the on another McCarthy RBI single to score Day. Naysmith would homer to lead off the top of the fifth and then McCarthy would add a three run shot four batters later to fnish out the scoring.
McCarthy would have the three hits with 5 RBIs to lead the team. Day would have a single and a double and score three times, and Naysmith finished with his two hits and two RBIs.
The Cougars could only manage five hits in the second game. Motlow would hold a 4-0 lead before the Cougars would dent the scoreboard in the sixth inning as they scored twice on RBI singles by Brandon Lejeune and Needham. Daniel Crabtree would take the loss as he surrendered nine hits and four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. He would strike out six hitters with no walks. Owen Clark would come on in relief and allow only one hit with four strikeouts and one walk.
The Cougars will be back on the field Saturday as they travel to take on the Senators of Walters State. The game will be live streamed on Jockjive.com through the Walters State Network. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST.
