Cougars Get Back to .500 in WHAC Play With Sweep of Siena Heights

(Adrian, MI)-- The Cleary Cougars had an impressive day, as they were able to earn a pair of victories to sweep the host Siena Heights Saints in Adrian, Michigan this afternoon to get back to .500 in WHAC play.

In Game 1:  After three scoreless innings, Siena Heights was able to strike first, scoring in the bottom of the 4th inning to take a 1-0 lead.  Neither team was able to score in the 5th inning, but the Cougars started to get hot in the top of the 6th.  After a groundout to lead things off, Aaron Dyke drew a walk.  The next batter was Derek Zavala who reached on a fielder's choice to give the Saints two outs and brought up Jeremy VanOosterum.  VanOosterum tripled down the left field line to score Zavala and tie up the game.  One batter later, Kendall Flaugher singled up the middle to score VanOosterum and give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.  
Those two runs were all Garrett Larner needed, as he threw a complete game (7 innings), while striking out 4, and only allowing 4 hits.  Larner improves to 3-3 on the season.

In Game 2:  There was a little more offense in game two, and Cleary got things going in the top half of the 1st inning.  After Ryan Kadoguchi and Aaron Dyke both singled, Derek Zavala doubled home Kadoguchi to give Cleary a 1-0 lead.  The next batter was Jeremy VanOosterum who scored home Dyke on a sacrifice fly and advanced Zavala to third base.  A Kendall Flaugher single made the game 3-0 after 1 inning.  Siena Heights would answer in the bottom of the 2nd to tie the game at 3-3.  In the top of the 5th, Jeremy VanOosterum led things off with a single and a stolen base.  Two batters later, Billy Flohr tripled to right field to score VanOosterum and give the Cougars back the lead at 4-3.  Zach Agemak would pinch run for Flohr, and scored on a Kyle Miazgowicz sacrifice fly to make the score 5-3.  In the top of the 7th inning, Kendall Flaugher singled, and Billy Flohr doubled to put runners on second and third base.  After a pair of pop outs, Nick Koan singled to left to score two runs and give Cleary a 7-3 lead that they would hold onto through the final out.
Jeremy Fuchs pitched a quality start of 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits.  Colin Brazil pitched the final 4 innings of shutout baseball to pick up his 2nd save of the season, allowing 0 runs on 3 hits while striking out 2.

Cleary improves to 14-10 overall, 2-2 in the WHAC.  They will be back at Lake Trust Stadium this Saturday, April 2, when they host the UM-Dearborn Wolverines in a WHAC double-header.  The games will be our Autism Awareness games, where the Cougars (and all fans are encouraged) will wear special sky blue uniforms to raise awareness for Autism.  The game will also feature a free mini-bat giveaway for the 1st 50 fans in attendance.  First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 PM.