For the first time this season, Colorado Christian was able to score first, and stayed in front throughout the game to give them the 7-4 victory over Nova Southeastern University. CCU scored two runs in the first and one in the second to take the early 3-0 lead over the Sharks. It was a cold night in Florida, but the Cougs were able to battle through and come out on top.
 
The scoring began early on for CCU as Branden Amenta drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and then stole second base which put him into scoring position for Pete McWilliams who drove Amenta in with a sharp single to left field. Bryce Brenton stepped into the box next and delivered a double to left field which was able to score McWilliams from first. After one inning, the Cougars had staked themselves to a 2-0 lead. They added one more in the second inning as Amenta singled to drive in Brandon Hesselberg who had doubled to lead off the inning.
 
CCU starter Danny Graves ran into some trouble in the third inning against the Sharks as they were able to come up with three runs to tie the game heading into the fourth. Graves was relieved by Ryan Erazo after the third inning and was able to hold the Sharks at bay throughout the rest of the game.
 
The game remained tied 3-3 until the fifth inning when Bryce Brenton delivered his second RBI double of the game driving in Weston Wiederhold who had walked earlier in the inning. Wiederhold was responsible for driving in the fifth run for the Cougars as he had an RBI single in the sixth inning which would have driven in another run if it had not been for the Nova left fielder coming up with a great play to throw out Chance Richardson at home who was trying to score from second. CCU added another run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly off of the bat of Austin Atkerson which scored Pete McWilliams who had singled to lead off the inning. Colorado Christian made it four straight innings with a run in the eighth as Jerry Gallegos scored on a heads up baserunning play by taking advantage of an errant throw by the Nova shortstop which gave CCU a 7-3 advantage in the game.
 
Ryan Erazo kept the hitters off balance all game and ended up getting victory in the game which was his first decision of the season (1-0). He went five innings giving up one run on five hits and struck out six. Mike Marlar finished the Sharks off in the ninth inning to secure his second save on the year.
 
Offensively, the Cougars had 13 hits in the game including four players who had multiple hits on the night. Pete McWilliams went 2-5 with one RBI and two runs scored. Bryce Brenton went 3-5 with two RBI and now leads the team with four doubles on the year. Austin Atkerson went 2-4 with one RBI, and Brandon Hesselberg went 3-5 with two runs scored. Hesselberg is in the zone right now as he has gone 7-9 over the last two games, which has boosted his average up to a team leading .500.
 
The win improves the Cougars record to 2-3 on the year. They will be back in action Friday as they continue their Florida road trip by traveling to St. Petersburg, FL to begin a two game series with Eckerd College. First pitch for the game is scheduled for 4PM MST.

DNL