Men's Baseball Secures Two Wins At Home

The men's baseball team was at home this weekend for four significant games as the OCAA season starts to wind down.

The homestand opened roughly as the Cougars had trouble on the defensive side throughout the game on Saturday morning against the Fanshawe Falcons. Although the offence managed to produce 7 hits, the errors caught up with the squad as they dropped game one. Lucas Ingratta took the loss while Nolan Toni pitched in relief. Travis Rainey led the offence with a double and a single, while Marc Chamberlain added a double and a single of his own. Connor Bruzas and Chris Deubel added singles as well in the 14-1 loss.

The afternoon matchup provided fans with a closely contested game. The Cougars took an early lead by pushing across two runs in the bottom of the first. Starting pitcher Carter Gallivan kept Fanshawe off balance, going 4 2/3 innings, giving up only 1 hit while striking out 9 batters. Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn't maintain the lead, and Fanshawe struck for 4 runs after Gallivan left the game and took the lead for good. Bryce Blixt and Aiden Russell had the only two Cougar hits of the game. Cole Wright took the 5-3 loss in relief.

The Cougars started Sunday's doubleheader with their biggest offensive outing of the season against the Seneca Sting. After trailing early 2-1, the Cougars scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning on a two-run single by Jayden Valle and RBI's from Liam Nordby and Bryce Blixt, putting the Cougars in control at 6-2. The offence didn't stop there, as the locals struck for 7 more runs in the bottom of the 6th inning. Leading the offence was Aiden Russell with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's. Jayden Valle added 3 RBI's, while Liam Nordby added 2 singles. Dylan Rudge added 2 singles of his own. Matthew Forsey picked up the victory, going 4 1/3 strong innings. Gavin Lamming and Cole Masse kept the door shut with 2 2/3 innings of relief in the 12-3 victory.

In the final game of the weekend, The Cougars kept the offence rolling, striking for 3 runs in the first inning and 4 runs in the third inning to run out to a 7-4 lead. They held onto the lead for the remainder of the game to cap off their fifth win of the season. Starting pitcher Owen Daynard hung tough and kept the Cougars in front, with Gavin Lamming coming in to gather his second save of the season. Bryce Blixt led the offence with a double and a single with 4 RBI's, while Will Nevills added a triple and 2 singles with 2 RBI's. Travis Rainey had a double and a single, and Liam Nordby added 2 singles in the 9-7 win over the Sting.

The Cougars will host the Sheridan Bruins this Saturday at 11am and 1pm to finish off the regular season. They're currently sitting in eighth place with a 5-11 record.

Photo credit: Freeze Frame Photos