By BRYAN GRISHAM

CSCC Sports Information Director

   COLUMBIA, TN. - The Cleveland State baseball team pulled the broom out of the bat rack on Sunday afternoon as they completed a three game sweep of the Columbia State Chargers. After dodging the rain showers on Saturday, the Cougars took a 13-5 win in game one and then captured both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday, 8-4 in the first game and 5-3 in game two to run their overall record to 24-9 and their conference mark to an impressive 11-4.

   In the first game of the twinbill on Sunday, the Cougars fell behind early as Holden Killen and Chris Hale smashed a two-run dinger each to give the Chargers a 4-1 lead after four innings of play.

   Adam Hindman started a comeback for the Cougars in the sixth inning with an RBI double while Lance Rorex tied the game with a clutch two-run single for a 4-4 tie.

   The clutch hitting continued for the Cougars an inning later as Cory Hilton knocked in a run in the seventh while Cody Hooper put the game on ice with a three-run homer as the Cougars completed the comeback for the win.

   Phil Mariani got the win with an inning of work in relief of Ben Booker who pitched the first five innings. Brock Glass took the loss for Columbia. Troy Zawadzki and Andrew Root paced the Cougars with two hits each while Killen and Hale had three hits each for the Chargers.

   In game two on Sunday, the Cougars completed the sweep as once again they would need some late inning clutch hitting to get the win.

   An RBI single from Hindman and a solo homer by Rorex put the Cougars on top in the second inning, but the Chargers tied the game an inning later on a Cleveland State miscue and a wild pitch.

   Hooper nailed a solo home run in the fourth inning to put the Cougars on top 3-2, but a sacrifice fly by Killen an inning later tied the game once again for the Chargers.

   The Cougars loaded the bases in the sixth frame as this time Drew Banks pushed the go-ahead run across with a sacrifice fly to centerfield while Cody Ferrell doubled in an insurance run to secure the win and the sweep.

   Travis Tingle (4-1) pitched five innings to pick up the win while Stephen Pryor pitched a scoreless inning and Chris Anselmo came on to pick up his fifth save. Matt Fiser took the loss for Columbia. Hooper led the way for the Cougars with three hits while Hindman and Rorex added two hits each. Chris Lovett had three hits for the Chargers.

   In the first game of the series on Saturday night, the Cougars had to come from behind to turn a close game into a blowout.

   Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, Hindman contiuned to carry the hot bat as he got the Cougars rolling with a solo homer. After the Chargers pushed their lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning, last week's player of the week, Cory Hilton put his team on top with one swing of his bat for a three-run home run and a 4-3 Cougar lead.

   Matt Brewer joined the Cougar hit parade in the sixth with an RBI single while Hindman air-mailed his second round-tripper of the game to push the lead to 7-3.

   After a two-run double by Killen cut the lead back to two runs at 7-5, the Cougars quickly put the game out of reach in the eighth with a six run outburst. Andrew Root singled in a run to start the onslaught while Hilton struck again, this time dialing long distance for a grand slam homer as the Cougars ran away and hid for a win in game one.

    Jay Bolen (5-1) picked up the win for the Cougars while Chad Fromm tossed two scoreless innings in relief. Travis Garcia suffered the loss. Hilton went 3-5 with seven RBIs while Hindman went 3-4 with a pair of homers to lead the Cougars 14 hit attack.