WNCC baseball falls twice to Lamar in April

                LAMAR, Colo. -- The Western Nebraska Community College dropped a Empire Conference doubleheader to No. 7 Lamar Community College on Sunday.

                In the opener, the Cougars managed just three hits while giving up seven early runs to fall 10-1. The nightcap saw the Cougars fall behind early and dropped a 12-3 contest.

                The losses drops the Cougars to 7-16 in conference play and two games behind Trinidad State Junior College, who holds the fourth and final playoff spot. The Trojans are 9-16 on the year after splitting with McCook on Sunday.

                The Cougars return to action Wednesday when they host Northeastern Junior College in a doubleheader at Cleveland Field. NJC sets in second in conference play at 17-7, just two games behind Lamar, who has a 23-5 conference record.

                WNCC got behind the 8-ball early in both games on Sunday. In the opener, WNCC got on the board first with a single run in the first as Oswaldo Gonzalez scored off a Pablo Garcia single.

                After that, though, Lamar scored seven runs in the first two innings to build a 7-1 lead and cruised to the 10-1 win.

                Grant Rimington took the loss on the mound. The Gering High product went just 1 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits, including two home runs. Jason Palser finished off the game, tossing 4 2/3 innings and gave up just three runs on four hits, while striking out seven.

                WNCC managed just three hits in the contest. Cameron Snyder had two of the three hits.

                WNCC played better in the second game early on. Lamar took a 4-0 lead after two innings, but the Cougars came right back scoring two in the third on one hit, a run-scoring single by Keeton Krause.

                After that, though, Lamar would score eight more runs over the next four innings to get the win.

                WNCC had eight hits in the contest. Gonzalez and Krause each finished with two hits each. Gonzalez had a home run in the game, while Delgado had a double.

                Nick Vanthillo took the loss, tossing three innings and allowing seven runs on seven hits. Cedric tossed two innings in allowing three runs on four hits, while Richard Hernandez went one inning, fiving up two runs on a hit.

First Game

WNCC                   100 000 0 -- 1 3 4

Lamar                    430 201 x -- 10 11 0

LP -- Grant Rimington.

Second Game

WNCC                   002 010 0 -- 3 8 4

Lamar                    042 123 x -- 12 12 1

LP -- Nick Vanthillo; 2B -- Anthony Delgado; HR -- Oswaldo Gonzalez.