Strong pitching propels WNCC baseball team to sweep of McCook

Submitted by Jeremy Woznick, Star-Herald Sports

MCCOOK - A pair of pitching gems lifted the Western Nebraska Community College baseball team to a Region IX doubleheader road sweep over McCook Community College on Saturday in McCook.

Tim Kupfner struck out seven in an 8-4 win in game one, while Ben Doran scattered just three hits in pitching the Cougars to a 9-0 win in game two.

The victories improved WNCC to 9-12 overall. More importantly, the Cougars evened their conference record at 4-4 and climbed to third place in the regional standings.

"It was a pair of good conference wins for us today," WNCC coach Mike Jones said. "We're showing signs of getting a lot better. McCook is a pretty good team and they threw some good pitchers at us today. But we really are starting to show some improvement and I'm really happy with how we played today."

Kupfner received plenty of offensive support in the opener as the Cougars pounded out 11 hits. Jason Sloan, Anthony Paniagua and Jared Baros all collected two hits each.

Sloan drove in a pair of runs and blasted a solo home run in the top of the sixth. Paniagua and Baros both drove in one. Paniagua finished with a triple. Also collecting extra-base hits in the game for WNCC were Trace Marsden and Oscar Rodriquez. Both had doubles.

The win improved Kupfner to 3-0 on the season. He struck out seven in six innings of work.
In game two, Doran dazzled on the mound in silencing the powerful McCook bats. He allowed just three hits in six innings of work.

"We had two good pitching performances today," Jones said. "Ben threw an excellent ball game and limited them to just three hits. Any time you can get a shutout in conference play, that's great pitching. Kupfner did a nice job for us in game one. His pitch count got up there late in the game and he got a little tired, but for the most part he dominated the game."

Offensively in game two, Elvis Garcia ignited the Cougars by going 2-for-3 with five runs batted in. Garcia finished with a double and blasted a two-run home run in the fifth. Also for WNCC in the game, Aurelio Monteagudo went 2-for-3 with a double and a run batted in. Josh Parker also collected a double.

The Cougars scored three times in the fourth, twice in the fifth and plated four runs in the sixth. WNCC finished the game with 10 hits.

The two teams will play another doubleheader today. Jones said Victor Rubio will get the start on the mound in game one and Gustavo Sanchez will pitch game two.
Following today's action, WNCC will head south for its annual spring break road trip in Arizona.

Game One
WNCC 100 212 2 - 8 11 1
McCook 000 004 0 - 4 14 0
WP - Tim Kupfner (3-0). LP - O'Conner.
HR - Jason Sloan. 3B - Anthony Paniagua. 2B - Trace Marsden, Oscar Rodriquez.

Game Two
WNCC (9-12) 000 324 0 - 9 10 0
McCook (5-10) 000 000 0 - 0 3 1
WP - Ben Doran (2-1). LP - Parker.
HR - Elvis Garcia. 2B - Garcia, Josh Parker.