Cougars Sweep Marian 5-2 and 10-4


	Cougar Baseball Recap Cougars Sweep Marian 5-2 and 10-4 written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Game 1 Boxscore \| Game 2 Boxscore MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (4-3-2012) - After a one-hour rain delay prior to the start of the first game, the Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team swept Marian (Ind.) University 5-2 and 10-4 in a Mid-Central College Conference doubleheader at Cougar Field on Tuesday afternoon. The Cougars (17-11, 8-6 MCC) jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning in game one when senior first baseman Josh Roberts *(left)* blasted the first pitch he saw over the fence in left center for a two-run home run as MVNU took a 2-0 lead. The homer was Roberts' team-leading fifth of the season and the 15th of his career. The visiting Knights (8-21, 6-8 MCC) battled back to knot the score at 2-2 as Marian pushed across single runs in both the top of the third and fourth innings. Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cougars got an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Robert Kane and back-to-back sacrifice flies from Roberts and sophomore designated hitter Seth Eller as MVNU took a 5-2 lead. That would prove to be all the scoring in the game as sophomore right-hander Mike Kochheiser (4-0) went the distance on the mound for the Cougars to pick up the win. He allowed just four singles, two walks, and one earned run with two strikeouts. Neil Hackett (1-5) took the loss for the Knights as he allowed nine hits, one walk, and five runs over six innings with two strikeouts. Freshman outfielder Kenny McCambridge paced the MVNU offense by going 3-for-4, while Kane and junior shortstop Jordan Doherty added a pair of hits each. Roberts also finished with three RBI. "We got off to a nice start with Josh's two-run homer," said MVNU coach Keith Veale. "He had much better at bats today than recent games and got us on top with one swing. The early cushion was important because Mike was not quite as sharp as he has been. He struggled to locate his curveball today and labored through his innings as compared to recent starts. To his credit, he did settle in and threw better as the game progressed. I also thought Kenny gave us a spark at the top of the order with three hits." The Knights jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning in the second game as Marian strung four hits together to take the early advantage. The Cougars got one run back in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Roberts and then MVNU tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the second inning on a throwing error by the Knights and a sacrifice fly by freshman catcher Clint Spencer. The Cougars took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Roberts and sophomore third baseman Jeff Stone hit back-to-back one-out doubles, and then Stone later came around to score on a wild pitch. After Marian pulled within 5-4 with a run in the top of the sixth inning, MVNU broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth inning by sending nine batters to the plate and taking advantage of two errors to score five times to extend the Cougars' lead to 10-4. Roberts had an RBI double, Stone and Doherty both had RBI singles, and Kane had a sacrifice fly - MVNU's fifth of the day - to close out the scoring. Junior right-hander Darren Athey (2-1) earned the victory for the Cougars as he scattered nine hits and four runs over six innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Senior right-hander Jeff Estep worked one perfect inning of relief with a pair of strikeouts. Caleb Small (0-7) took the loss for Marian as he allowed seven hits, two walks, and eight runs (only four earned) over five-plus innings with three strikeouts. Matt Black tossed the final inning and gave up three hits and two runs. Roberts, Stone, and Doherty all had two hits apiece to pace MVNU with Roberts and Stone both driving in two runs each and scoring twice. Meanwhile, Brett Metcalf paced the Knights with two hits. "We started by giving up three runs in the first, which was not really what we had in mind as we started the game," said Veale. "Darren got ahead of hitters, but he didn't put them away with two-strike pitches. They hurt him a number of times when he had two strikes on them. I like the fact that we didn't panic and we were able to tie things up in the second inning. We really let them off the hook in the fourth by not executing, but when things tightened up in the sixth we finally put some pressure on them by executing the bunting and base running aspects that had been such a struggle throughout the day." "In a lot of ways, I was disappointed with our performance today," Veale added. "We had numerous things that we really didn't perform well at. Those type of breakdowns will be costly if we do not do a better job of executing. It was nice to get a couple of conference wins, and those are not automatic." The Cougars will be back in action on Thursday when they will travel to Marian for another MCC doubleheader to complete the four-game conference series. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.

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