COVINGTON, GA. - The first road trip of the season for the Cleveland State baseball team was not a happy one as the Cougars traveled south for a cat fight with the Jaguars of Georgia Perimeter on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars dropped both ends of the doubleheader by scores of 10-7 and 8-3.
The Cougars jumped on top in game one with a pair of runs in the first as Alex Huddleston singled in a run. But, it was all Jaguars after that as the home team answered with a five run outburst in the bottom half of the inning.
Taylor Cato and Garitt Church singled in a pair of runs each while Christian Van Camp knocked in another for a 5-2 lead.
The home team tacked on five more runs in the third and fourth frames (four of the runs were unearned). The Cougars added a single talley in the fourth as Cody Commons got plunked with the bases loaded for an RBI the hard way and Damo DeMatteo knocked in two more with a single and inning later, but it would not be enough as the Cougars fell in game one.
Clay Garner got the win for the Jaguars while Sam Bragg and Christian Turnipseed pitched in relief. Hunter Hammond suffered the loss on the mound for the Cougars while Ethan Davis, Justin Sturgeon, Marcus Hunter and Tyler Kilgore pitched in relief.
The Cougars jumped on top once again in game two with a pair of runs in their first at-bat. Cody Hiefnar and Colin Sullivan doubled in a run each to give Cleveland State a quick 2-0 lead.
The lead stood up until the fifth inning when the Jaguars put a five spot on the board to take the lead. Sloan Strickland tripled in a run, Van Camp doubled in another while McLendon Hill and Truman Jafferson singled in a run each with the fifth run crossing on a wild pitch for a 5-2 lead.
The Cougars scratched out a run in the top of the sixth as DeAndre Allen coaxed a walk with the bases full of Cougars, but the Jaguars put the game on ice with three more runs (2 unearned) in the bottom of the sixth to secure the win and the sweep.
Cato picked up the win for the Jaguars while Adam Clark and Tripp Sheppard pitched in relief. Ross Spurgeon took the loss for the Cougars (2-2) while Jeb Scoggins, Derek Chandler and Thomas Huddleston all tossed in relief. The Cougars banged out 19 hits while the Jaguars countered with 22.
The Cougars will travel to Gordon College on Tuesday and will host Vincennes University on Saturday and Sunday for a three-game series.