Cougars Split, Lose Two Of Three To Dyersburg
Monday, March 18, 2013
DYERSBURG - The Cleveland State baseball team finished their West Tennessee road trip with a split of their Region VII Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon with Dyersburg State. After taking game one of the three game set on Friday, 3-2, the Eagles came from behind to win game two on Saturday, 6-4 before the Cougars managed to avoid the sweep by winning game three, 2-0.
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The Cougars put three marks on the board in the top of the third inning in game one on Saturday. Stephen Collum and Colby Harmon each singled and moved up a base on a sacrifice fly. Evan Speicher continued to carry the hot bat as he promptly doubled in both of his teammates and then later crossed home himself on an Eagle error for a 3-0 lead.
The Eagles got one of those runs back in the bottom of the frame as Jimbo Ramsey knocked in a run, but the Cougars countered an inning later as Ethan Davis singled and scored on a single by Harmon to push the lead to 4-1.
The lead didn't last long though, as the home team added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game. Blake Phillips singled in a run, another run crossed on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Tyler Jackson and David Newel singled in the third run to tie the game at 4-4.
The Eagles went back to work in the fifth as they capitalized on a walk, a hit batter and a Cougar miscue to take a 6-4 lead. Lee Haeberle scattered eight hits over his six innings of work to get the win for Dyersburg State while Heath Petty came on to pitch a perfect seventh inning to record the save. Jeb Scoggins started for the Cougars while Haydn Bailey took the loss in relief.
The Cougars bounced back in game two of the afternoon to avoid the sweep as Thomas Huddleston turned a gem of a pitching performance. Huddleston went the distance, tossing a shutout and allowing only two hits along the way to get the win. Jonathan Moody was almost as good for the Eagles, allowing only five hits and two runs, but took the loss.
The Cougars managed to scratch out a single run in the third inning as DeAndre Allen doubled, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out single by Keith Buckhault.
The visitors doubled their lead in the sixth as Jared Davis singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cody Hiefnar and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Hargrove for a 2-0 lead. That would be all the run support that Huddleston would require as he finished the Eagles off in fine fashion to secure the win.
The Cougars will travel to Georgia Perimeter on Tuesday for a pair of games and then host Roane State next weekend for a three game set.