CLEBURNE, TX – The Colorado Christian baseball squad opened the 2020 earlier than any previous team in school history with a pair of games in January.
The Cougars played their first two of four games at the 4~Him Classic in the Lone Star State. In the process interim head coach Paul Koss won his first game at the helm of the program.
Colorado Christian 11, Southern Nazarene 6
Despite trailing by five runs, a late inning rally highlighted by a grand slam guided the Cougars to their season opening victory.
The Cougars found themselves trailing 5-0 after the third inning after Southern Nazarene put a five-spot on the scoreboard in the frame. From that point forward, Colorado Christian settled down and methodically took the lead.
Matt Kimura and Zayne Willems scored the first two runs of the season for Colorado Christian in the bottom half of third inning; and the comeback began. In the sixth inning Heath Hays hit a sacrifice fly, which scored Hunter Hays, to cut their deficit to 5-3.
Southern Nazarene scored their final run in the seventh inning before the Cougars completed their comeback in the next two innings. A serious threat in the bottom half of that frame nearly gave the Cougars the lead but they had to settle for a pair of runs as Tommy Orr and Blake Mattey scored.
Everything clicked for Colorado Christian in the eighth inning. Kyler Riordon pitched a scoreless top half of the frame and then the offense gushed runs. The first three runners reached via a base hit then with one-out Michael Spain hammered a 1-0 pitch over the fence for his first collegiate homerun; giving the Cougars a 9-6 edge. The offense was not done. Hunter Hays hit an RBI triple and Jordan Medina followed with an RBI double to round out the scoring.
At the plate Hunter Hays went 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored in addition to his RBI. Spain had a three-hit day in his five at-bats with five RBI. Kimura, Orr and Heath Hays pounded out a pair of hits to aid in the offensive attack.
On the mound, Riordon went six strong innings in relief. The righthander struck out there to earn the win.
Colorado Christian 11, Univ. of Mary 4
While an offensive comeback carried the Cougars to a victory in Friday's first game, it was a strong pitching effort that set a winning tone in the nightcap.
Tyler Henning was excellent on the bump as he struck out 11, gave-up just four hits in six solid innings of work. His 104-pitch effort was a great compliment to the Cougars offense.
Colorado Christian put the first runs on the scoreboard in the third inning when they crossed the plate three time. The Cougars eventually took a 7-0 lead after plating a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings respectively.
The University of Mary looked to get back into the contest with a four-run seventh inning but the Cougars wiped away any hope of their comeback in eighth. Colorado Christian put a four-spot on the board to all but seal the victory.
At the plate the group of Tommy Orr, Michael Spain, Blake Mattey and Heath Hays all had a pair of base knocks during the squad's 11-hit effort. Hunter Hays completed his strong day with a four-RBI performance while Zayne Willems scored three runs.
(Recap to Follow)
