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Cougars Split Two-City Day-Night
Doubleheader
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game
1 Boxscore |
Game
2 Boxscore
LAKELAND, Fla. (3-16-2012) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University baseball team
defeated Valley Forge Christian (Pa.)
College 10-0 in the afternoon Friday and
then fell 4-3 to Wayne State (Mich.)
University under the lights in action on the
Cougars' annual spring trip.
MVNU (8-4) got the day started with a bang
as the Cougars put up six runs in the top of
the first inning against Valley Forge
Christian (0-7) in a game played at
Southeastern (Fla.) University. Sophomore
catcher Greg Travis had a two-run double in
the inning, while sophomore outfielder Sean
Fleming, sophomore first baseman Seth Eller,
and junior shortstop Jordan Doherty each
drove in one run as MVNU sent 10 batters to
the plate in the inning.
The Cougars tacked on two more runs in the
top of the third inning when Doherty and
freshman second baseman Sterling Harpst both
had an RBI single to increase the lead to
8-0.
MVNU tacked on an unearned run in the top of
the fourth inning and then capped off the
scoring in the top of the fifth inning with
a sacrifice fly by Fleming as the Cougars
prevailed 10-0.
However, the story of the game was the
pitching of sophomore right-hander Mike
Kochheiser (below), who
dominated Valley Forge Christian. Kochheiser
(2-0) allowed just two hits and two walks
while striking out a career-high 14 batters,
which was only four strikeouts shy of the
school record of 18 set by former Major
League Baseball No. 1 draft pick Tim Belcher
in a nine-inning game versus Kenyon College
in 1983. Kochheiser struck out six straight
batters at one point, and he struck out the
side in the second, third, and seventh
innings.
Offensively, sophomore third baseman Jeff
Stone led MVNU by going 3-for-4, while
Doherty added a pair of hits.
"We went into the day knowing that we needed
to get some good innings out of our starting
pitchers with our compact schedule over
three days," said MVNU coach Keith Veale.
"Mike was solid throughout. He basically was
able to dominate with his fastball.
Offensively, we were not very disciplined at
the plate, but we stole some bases to help
produce some runs."
In the second game, the Cougars traveled to
Lake Mrytle Park in Auburndale and squared
off with Wayne State (9-4), a team that was
receiving votes in the latest NCAA Division
II poll and was coming off a doubleheader
split with Winona State University, NCAA
Division II national runner-up from a year
ago.
The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the bottom
of the first inning on a leadoff single by
Justin DeFrancis, a sacrifice, and a two-out
single by Chris Gebara.
MVNU got on the scoreboard in the top of the
third inning with a pair of runs to take a
2-1 lead. Doherty drove in the first run
with a bases loaded fielder's choice and a
second run came in on the play when the
relay throw to first to try to double up
Doherty was wild.
However, Wayne State answered with two
unearned runs in the bottom of the third
inning to regain the lead 3-2. With one out
and a runner at first base, junior
left-handed pitcher Justin Brown fielded a
comebacker to the mound and made a nice
throw to second to start what could have
been an inning-ending double play.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, the throw was
dropped and a wild pitch and two hits later
saw the Warriors back on top.
MVNU knotted the score at 3-3 in the top of
the sixth inning with three singles and a
walk with freshman outfielder Jake Dickerson
driving in the run. However, the Cougars
left the bases loaded as they failed to take
the lead.
That would be all the scoring until the
bottom of the ninth inning although MVNU had
another golden opportunity in the top of the
eighth inning with three straight singles
and a walk to start the frame. A caught
stealing and an inning-ending double play
kept the Cougars from crossing the plate.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Brad
Guenther led off with a single for the
Warriors and was sacrificed to second. A
single by DeFrancis put runners on first and
third with one out. DeFrancis took off to
steal second and the throw from freshman
catcher Clint Spencer sailed into
centerfield as Guenther came home with the
winning run as Wayne State prevailed 4-3.
Brown (1-2) was the hard-luck loser for MVNU
as he scattered six hits, four walks, and
four runs (only one earned) over eight-plus
innings with two strikeouts. He also fielded
his position well with six assists and one
putout. Eller retired one batter and gave up
one hit in relief.
Kyle Zimmerman started and worked five
innings for the Warriors and allowed two
hits, two walks, and two runs with three
strikeouts. Brock Bates tossed 2.1 innings
and gave up five hits, one walk, and one run
with three strikeouts, while Greg Spiess
also recorded two outs in relief and allowed
one hit and one walk. Billy Hurley (1-0)
tossed a scoreless ninth inning to record
the win as he fanned two batters.
Offensively, Stone and Dickerson both had
two hits apiece for the Cougars, who
stranded eight in the contest. DeFrancis had
two hits to lead Wayne State.
"This was a difficult game to assess," said
Veale. "We did some things very well. I
thought we really had some outs that we
squared well at the plate. Justin threw
extremely well and had perhaps his best
outing of the year to date. However, we
really broke down offensively and
defensively. This was our poorest showing on
defense this season. Our base running once
again bit us more than once, and it cost us
a really good chance to win. We did some
good things today, but it was just
frustrating to break down as much as we did.
We need to learn and get back to playing
better baseball."
The Cougars will return to action on
Saturday with a doubleheader against Florida
Christian College starting at 1:30 p.m. at
Chain of Lakes Park in Winterhaven.
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