[March 25] The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team found some offense Sunday afternoon in sweeping an Empire Conference doubleheader from McCook Community College at Cleveland Field.
Jake Vore provided the game-winning hit, scoring Tre Meier from second base in the bottom of the seventh for an heart-wrenching 4-3 win. The second contest saw the Cougars pound out 11 hits and score seven early runs before holding on for an 8-6 win.
WNCC coach Mike Jones said the doubleheader sweep was much needed for a team that has been having offensive woes the last few weeks.
“These are good wins for us. Taking care of your home field during this Region IX schedule is important and will pay off for us down the road,” Jones said. “We got good pitching performances and offensively we came alive. It took us a little bit in game one, but we did a good job. Once we get guys on base, we were aggressive on the bases to generate a lot of scoring opportunities.”
More importantly, the wins kept the Cougars squarely in the hunt in capturing one of the four playoff spots. WNCC moves to 6-3 on the year in conference play, just a game behind league-leading Northeastern Junior College (7-2) and Lamar Community College (6-2).
“Being able to be in a position we are in in our conference right know is a good spot to be in,” Jones said. “There are some teams that are starting to separate themselves and we have to keep up with those guys that are in the front of the conference right now.”
WNCC opened the day with an impressive win against McCook in the bottom of the seventh. Meier led off by earning a lead-off walk. After a failed sacrifice that resulted in a pop out to the pitcher, Vore came through with a line-drive single to right field to score Meier with the game winner.
McCook, however, struck first in the contest, scoring twice in the third inning. But the lead was short-lived as Benly Ramos ripped a first-pitch 3-run home run in the bottom of the inning to put WNCC back on top 3-2. McCook tied the contest at 3-3 with a single run in the fourth and it stayed that way until the dramatic seventh inning.
WNCC pounded out six hits in the contest. Oscar Familia was the only Cougar with more than one hit, going 2-for-3. Ramos went 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs.
Gianfranco Bernal picked up the complete game win, tossing seven strong inning by allowing just three hits, three runs and walking three. Bernal also struck out six in tossing just 99 pitches to the 29 batters he faced.
The first-game win carried over plenty of motivation into game two as the Cougars scored a single run in the first before opening the contest with three in the second and two in the third for a 6-0 lead.
The second was the key inning as the Cougars worked the bases loaded before Max Brennen unloaded on a 2-run single. Later that inning, Nick Vanthillo had a run-scoring single to put the Cougars up 4-0.
The third inning saw Keeton Krause lead off with a double followed by Pep Gonzalez reaching base after being plunked by a pitch. After some aggressive base running, both runners scored on a passed ball and an error.
WNCC added to the lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth. The fifth saw Gonzalez register a triple and then scoring on a Tyler Weins hit. The sixth saw Vore rocket a fastball over the rightfield fence for a solo blast.
The only downside to the game was McCook’s sixth-inning rally, where the Indians fought from a 7-0 deficit to slice the lead to 7-5. Relief pitcher Trevor Kriesel came in after a stellar pitching performance from Nick Hernandez, to shut down the Indians.
Hernandes went 5 2/3 innings in scattering eight hits, allowing five runs and striking out six. The freshman from Miami also allowed just one walk. Kriesel came in and allowed one hit on one run in his one inning of work.
Offensively, the Cougars pounded out 11 hits. Four Cougars finished with a multiple hit game. Gonzales led the way with a 2-for-2 game with a triple and three runs scored, while Ramos went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Vore and Krause each went 2-for-4. Vore had a home run, while Krause had a double and two runs scored.
WNCC will be back in action Wednesday when they host Northeastern Junior College in a 9-inning contest beginning at 2 p.m. at Cleveland Field.
Game 1
McCook 002 100 0 – 3 3 1
WNCC 003 000 1 – 4 6 2
WP – Gianfranco Bernal; HR – Benly Ramos
Game 2
McCook 000 005 1 – 6 9 0
WNCC 132 011 x – 8 11 1
WP – Nick Hernandez; S – Trevor Kriesel; 2B – Keeton Krause; 3B – Pep Gonzalez; HR – Jake Vore.
No comments:
Post a Comment