Both teams will be back in action Saturday at 10 a.m. for game two in a game that WNCC needs to force a deciding third game on Wednesday. The winner of the regional series will host the district tournament next weekend. No matter what happens on Saturday, the Cougars have still qualified per the fact that Lamar, the Empire Conference champion, earned an automatic bid into districts.
For the Cougars on Saturday, Armani Gonzalez will get the nod on the mound. Gonzalez will need to pitch better than Friday's starting pitcher Tim Beard, who allowed eight runs in the first four innings.
"Beard struggled today. It was the worst outing he has had all year and it was a bad time for that," WNCC coach Mike Jones said. "But, we were able to work through it and make a run at it at the end. We just dug ourselves such a big hole early that we couldn't quite get out of it."
Lamar scored three times in the opening frame to take a 3-0 lead. WNCC cut the lead to 3-1 with a single run in the second, but the Cougar defense couldn't keep the Lopes off the bath paths as they vaulted to an 8-1 lead after four innings.
WNCC made a comeback late as Elvis Garcia smashed a solo home run in the sixth inning. Then, in the eighth, the Cougars scored three runs to slice the deficit to 9-5. The big hit was a run-scoring double by Jason Sloan.
The Cougars managed eight hits on the day. Kevin Sanford was the only player with more than one hit as the finished with two singles. Garcia and Sloan had the only extra base hits for the Cougars.
Beard suffered the loss, lasting just four innings in giving up eight runs and striking out one. Julio Davila finished off the game, going four innings, allowing a run and striking out six.
Jones is hoping they can carry some of their late-inning momentum from Friday into game two.
"I am hoping we can take some momentum from our offense getting hot there at the end," he said. "I hope we can stay hot in [today's] game."
Jones said that they will need to shut down Lamar in order to force a game three on Sunday.
"I think it will be important that Armani comes out and is able to keep Lamar from scoring or maybe gives up just one run in the first three or four innings," Jones said. "He really needs to shut them down and give us a chance to get the lead early."
WNCC (24-36) 010 001 030 -- 5 8 1
Lamar (46-10) 321 201 00x -- 9 13 1
LP -- Tim Beard; 2B -- Jason Sloan; HR -- Elvis Garcia.
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