Cougars Split With UNOH, Set Up Must Win Games for Playoff Spot

(Lima, OH) -- The Cleary Cougars baseball team traveled to Lima, Ohio today to take on the top team in the WHAC Conference, the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers. 

In Game 1: The Cougars jumped out early to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning. Gavin Kempainen would walk to start the game and make his way around the bases. Ben Cerven would hit a sacrifice fly ball to center field allowing Gavin Kempainen to score. In the 2nd inning, Max Tomaszewski and Marcel Garcia hit back-to-back singles. Zach Agemak would step up to the plate and double down the right field line to make it a 2-0 ballgame. A pitcher's duel would ensue from there as both teams would go scoreless until the 6th inning. In the 6th, the Racers would pick up a game-tying 2-run home run with one out in the inning. Looking for a go-ahead run to break the game open, Brice Wesley would step to the plate in the top of the 7th inning. He would hit a leadoff solo home run to give the Cougars a 3-2 lead. Haden Fisk would return on the mound in the bottom half of the 7th inning going 1-2-3 giving the Cougars the much-needed 3-2 win. 

Haden Fisk (4-1) dominated on the mound for the Cougars going the complete game, 7.0 innings while only allowing 2 runs on 8 hits with 10 strikeouts. Brice Wesley's home run is his 5th this season after going 2-3 at the plate with a walk. 

In Game 2: The Cougar's offense would be shut down as UNOH would score 4 unanswered runs in the first 4 innings. The Cougars would finally have their chance in the 7th inning when Sam Browen hit his 4th home run on the season making it a 4-1 ballgame. With the bases loaded and 1 out in the inning, Zach Agemak would single to right field scoring Max Tomaszewski and Spencer Jamieson. Brice Wesley would single with 2 outs to bring Marcel Garcia home and tie the game at 4-4. UNOH would take the lead in the bottom half of the 7th inning off of a double making it a 5-4 ballgame. The Cougars would get a man on base in each of the 8th and 9th innings but would not score as UNOH shut them down giving the Cougars a 5-4 loss. 

Jacob Savina got the start on the mound and would go 6.0 innings while allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits. Marty McDonald (2-6) would suffer the loss after allowing 1 run on 2 hits in 1.0 innings pitched. 

The Cougars now sit at 16-28 overall on the season and 13-17 in WHAC Conference play. The Cougars currently sit in 9th place overall in the WHAC and just 1 game back of Cornerstone University for a playoff berth. The Cougars must win both games tomorrow against UNOH to clinch a playoff spot as Cornerstone University has the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record. First pitch tomorrow is set for 1:00 PM in Lima, Ohio.