Day two of the Alpine Fresh 4~Him Classic had its up's and downs as the Cougars split their two games for the day. CCU lost their first high scoring affair to the University of Texas Permian Basin by a score of 16-10, while they trounced the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State University 11-1 in just seven innings. The early season gets bumped up to 2-1 with one more game left to go in Cleburne on Saturday.

GAME 1:

Kicking off day two of the tournament with the 10:00 am early it was clear who woke up ready to play and who needed more coffee. The Falcons of UT Permian Basin raced off to a decisive 7-0 lead, leaving starting pitcher Zach Haning wondering what happened during his 1/3 inning outing. Haning allowed all seven of the Falcons early runs, all earned, before being relieved by Tyler Henning who went 4 2/3 innings in his surprise faux-start. In all the Cougars used five pitchers who combined to allow 14 hits, 16 earned runs, 12 walks, and 10 strikeouts.

The Cougar bats were spotty early, but truly woke up in the bottom of the 8th inning when the lineup that had become substitute heavy, showed they were not going to allow an 11-run deficit keep them from seizing this opportunity. Led by Scotty Ingle, Justin Kuhl, and Tim Pettett, the Cougar began to mount their comeback, scoring seven runs and cutting the score to 14-10. However, despite their efforts, the Cougs would not complete the comeback, and eventually fell by a score of 16-10.

GAME 2:

The nightcap game for Friday night of the tournament proved a much different story for CCU. The Cougars were held scoreless early but scored often come the 3rd inning when they scored in every single inning until a 10-run rule was enforced in the bottom of the 7th inning. Pitching was handled by the two very capable arms of Connor McCullum, making his CCU debut, and senior reliever Alex Ginn. McCullum threw just four innings but showed plenty as he allowed only one hit and three walks while striking out seven with just 77 pitches. Ginn finished the final three innings with 48 pitches, allowing five hits but only one earned run while striking out a pair.

At the plate, Heath Hays kept his streak of multiple hit games alive, notching his third in a row when he went 2-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI. Joel Manzano continued his strong offensive start to the season as he filled the role of designated hitter against the Aggies, going 2-3 with a run scored, driving in a pair, and earning a base on balls.

NOTEWORTHY STATS:

-          In game one on 2/8, Ingle was second Cougar up to bat in the 8th inning, drawing a walk from UTPB pitcher Clay Thompson, and when he came back to the plate in the same inning, drew another walk from UTPB pitcher Quinton Rockwell.

-          Kaleb Sorensen tallied the Cougars first triple of the season in game three when he led off in the bottom of the 7th inning to begin the run that would ultimately lead to the run rule enforcement.

UP NEXT:

The Cougars will wrap up tournament play when they play for 3rd place against the Eagles of Oklahoma Christian University on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. CST at The Depot in Cleburne.