The Cleveland State baseball team got back to their winning ways on Wednesday afternoon with a double header sweep of the Tusculum College Pioneers. The Cougars scored all of their runs in one out-burst in game one to take a 5-2 win and then used four pitchers to toss a one-hit shutout in game two for a 4-1 win.
Ethan Davis for the Cougars (10-7) and Eddie Perkins for the Pioneers took turns posting zeros on the scoreboard through the first five innings before the home team finally broke through. Six hits and two errors equaled a five spot for the Cougars in the bottom of the sixth.
Cody Commons and Derek Shugart started the rally with a single each. Chase Edwards added a walk to fill the bases with Cougars. Three straight RBI singles from Michael Hargrove, Colby Harmon and Colin Sullivan produced a 3-0 Cleveland State lead and two Pioneer miscues tacked on two more to push the lead to 5-0.
Tusculum avoided the shutout in their final at-bat as back to back doubles from Pat Holleran and Robbie Robinson to cut the final score to 5-2. Davis (2-0) went the distance for the Cougars scattering four hits over his seven innings of work to get the win.
Brittan Shaw suffered the loss for the Pioneers while Blake Burnett and John Clarke pitched in relief of Perkins.
Game two was all Cougar pitching as Hunter Hammond (1-1) got the win and gave up the only hit of the game in three innings of work. Marcus Hunter tossed two scoreless innings while Jeb Scoggins and Thomas Huddleston tossed a hitless inning each with Huddleston picking up his fourth save.
Tusculum took a brief lead as Matt Henrikson nailed a solo homer leading off the second inning, but the Cougars got that run back plus one in the bottom of the frame. Sullivan reached base and came all the way around to score on a balk while Devin Fish singled in a run for a 2-1 Cougar lead.
The score stayed right there until the bottom of the sixth when the Cougars tacked on a pair of insurance runs. Fish added his second RBI single of the afternoon plating Harmon who had doubled and J.D. Cowart put the finishing touches on the day with an RBI single of his own to seal the win.
Clint Biggs took the loss for Tusculum while Justin Carter, Ryan Craft and Chase Stevens pitched in relief.
The Cougars will travel to Memphis this weekend for a series with the Southwest Tennessee Saluqis.