Challis
Wright and Grant Piccolli went the distance on the mound as the Western
Nebraska Community College baseball team swept an Empire Conference
doubleheader over Trinidad State Junior College Friday afternoon at Cleveland
Field.
In
the opener, Wright scattered five hits, allowing just three runs as the Cougars
won 5-3.
Piccolli followed by striking out 14 and allowing just
three hits in the 2-1 win. It was the Cougars third straight win, pushing their
record to 10-20. More importantly, the wins moved the Cougars to third in the
conference.
"These
wins are huge for us right now," Piccolli said. "We have struggled
this year and to come back from Arizona we are trying to get some wins in
conference."
Piccolli
was masterful on the mound in the second game. The freshman from Australia
faced just 27 batters, striking out 14 and delivering 67 first-pitch strikes
out of 100 pitches in seven innings of work. He said he threw well and was
following in the footsteps of Wright, who was masterful on the mound in the
first game.
"I
threw good today and it comes out of preparation, I guess. It is just an award
for hard work and preparation," he said. "Challis did a great job in
game one and then I kept it rolling in game two."
Pitching
and defense were the key in the game two victory considering Trinidad State's
pitchers Austin Deal and Erik Bussey combined on a one hitter. The difference,
however, is the Trojans two pitchers didn't strike out any Cougars and walked
three.
WNCC
scored the only runs they needed in the third inning. Anthony Delgado and Zach
Ostergard earned walks and then Cameron Snyder delivered a 2-out single that
scored both runs for the lead.
Trinidad
came back in the fourth to slice the lead in half, but it was an unearned run
as Larry Vidaurre scored off a dropped fly Piccolli.
That
didn't matter as Piccolli put that blunder behind him struck out the next
batter to end the inning. He then picked up steam in the final three innings,
striking out seven of the nine outs to get the win.
The
first game was just as spectacular on both sides of the ball. Challis Wright
went the distance, allowing three runs on five hits. Wright struck out two and
walked just one. The righthander faced 30 batter and had just 99 pitches, 64 of
which were first-pitch strikes.
Defensively,
the Cougars turned three double plays which thwarted scoring attempts by
Trinidad. The first double play came in third inning after WNCC took a 2-1 lead
after two innings. The second double play came in the fourth as Wright got a
strike out and then a Trinidad runner was caught stealing to end the inning.
The
big defensive play, however, came in the fifth with runners at second and
third, but a hot grounder to Cougar third baseman Pablo Garcia who go the
runner headed home in a rundown for the final out.
WNCC
then went up 3-1 in the fifth as JT Core had a 2-out double followed by a
single by Snyder that scored Core. Trinidad game back to tie the game at 3-3 in
the sixth, scoring both runs with two outs with just one hit.
The
Cougars answered in the bottom of the frame with two runs on three hits. Keeton
Krause had a run-scoring double followed by Anthony Delgado getting a
run-scoring single. Wright and the rest of the Cougar defense then turned their
third double play to end the game.
Piccolli
said that these wins is good confidence but they have to play like this today
when they host Trinidad in another doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
"The
wins today is something to realize that this is what it can feel like all
season long if we win," he said. "We just need to come out and throw
the ball well tomorrow, get the outs that we need, and hopefully the offense
comes out and scores some runs for us again."
First Game
Trinidad 010
002 0 -- 3 5 1
WNCC 020
012 x -- 5 8 8
WP -- Challils Wright; 2B -- Keeton Krause, JT Core.
Second Game
Trinidad 000
100 0 -- 1 3 2
WNCC 002
000 x -- 2 1 2
WP -- Grant Piccolli
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