WNCC baseball takes down Colorado 12-6

Nelson Quintero

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

BOULDER, Colo. — Behind an 11-hit offensive attack, the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team slugged its way to a 12-6 win over the University of Colorado club team on Tuesday night in Boulder, Colo.

The win evened the Cougars’ record at 5-5 on the season.

“It was a good win,” WNCC coach Mike Jones said. “Offensively, we played a lot better tonight. We had some guys who had been struggling a little bit at the plate lately have multiple good at bats for us. It’s really encouraging to see us getting better offensively.”

Five different Cougar hitters totaled two hits each in the nine-inning contest. They included Nelson Quintero, Reimier Alambarry, Jake Vore, Josh Bride and Max Brennen. Quintero, Alambarry and Brennen all drove in two runs each, while Quintero and Kevin Sanford both scored three runs each. Sanford and Brennen both had doubles.

WNCC led 5-2 through five innings of play before tallying four runs in the top of the sixth to increase its advantage to 9-2. CU managed to climb within five with a pair of runs in the seventh, but the Cougars scored three insurance runs in the final two innings to cement the win.

Carlos Luzon earned the win on the mound. He struck out two and allowed two runs on five hits in four innings of work. Zak Porter, Joel Perez and Terry McNabb also saw action on the hill out of the bullpen. Perez struck out four in his two innings of work.

“Pitching-wise we could have done a little better on the mound,” Jones said. “We threw quite a few guys and they did OK.”

WNCC will be back in action on Thursday against the Colorado State University club team in Fort Collins, Colo. The Cougars will then open Region IX play on Saturday with a doubleheader at Trinidad State Junior College. The two squads will also play another doubleheader on Sunday.

“Today was good. If we can continue to build on it on Thursday then we have a chance to go into the weekend with some confidence,” Jones said. “I think it’s important for us to go into conference play with a more aggressive and confident attitude.”

WNCC (5-5)                111 024 012 — 12 11 1
Colorado                       200 000 202 — 6 10 3
WP — Carlos Luzon.
2B — Kevin Sanford, Max Brennen.