By BRYAN GRISHAM CSCC Sports Information Director
DYERSBURG, TN - The Eagle has landed and for the Cleveland State baseball team this was very bad news as the Cougars went zero for Dyersburg on Friday and Saturday, dropping a three game conference series to the Eagles. The home team posted a 10-0 shutout over the Cougars on Friday, a 1-0 extra inning win in the first game on Saturday and wrapped up the series with a 6-0 shutout win to complete the sweep.
The Eagles (24-11, 11-7) had lost five straight games entering the series while the Cougars had won 12 out of their last 13 after having their 12 game win streak snapped on Wednesday at Young Harris. The Cougars have now been held scoreless in their last 28 innings of play and have lost four in a row to drop their record to 30-13 overall and 14-7 in conference play. After averaging over eight hits a game for most of the season, the Cougars were held to a total of eight hits in the three game series.
In the first game on Saturday, the Cougar offense was completely shut down for the second straight game as Eagle starting pitcher, Cole Dickerson kept the potent Cleveland State bats quiet for seven innings allowing only one hit.
Meanwhile, Cougar starter Ben Booker was matching Dickerson pitch for pitch as both hurlers made it look easy at times by setting the opposition down in quick order through seven innings as extra innings would be needed to determine a winner.
The Cougars got a pair of runners on base in the eighth, but couldn't push one across as Rusty Edwards took over on the mound for the Eagles.
Finally, Dyersburg was able to scratch out a run in the bottom of the ninth as Michael Brown led off the frame with a ringing double just inside the left field foul line. Kurtis Bramlett followed with a single to put runners at the corners with no outs to set the stage for Chris White who promptly lifted a long sacrifice fly to left field for the game winner.
Booker was the tough luck losing pitcher as he tossed all nine innings fanning 10 Eagles and allowing only four hits for the Cougars. Edwards tossed two scoreless innings in relief to get the win while Dickerson got a no-decision for his efforts, allowing only one hit along the way for the Eagles. Drew Banks picked up two of the Cougars three hits while White added a single to his game winning sacrifice fly to pace Dyersburg.
The Cougars luck went from bad to worse in the back end of the twinbill on Saturday as momentum was clearly on the side of the home team. The Eagles put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. Fitzgerald blasted a three-run homer after a bloop single and a pop up that fell in the infield started the rally.
The Eagles tacked on two more in the fourth as Childress plated two runs with a single to push the lead to 6-0 which would be more than enough run support for Jonathan Rhoad who completed the third straight shutout win for the Eagles and a three game conference sweep of the Cougars.
Travis Tingle took the loss for the Cougars while Rhoad got the win tossing a one-hit shutout and striking out six along the way. Andrew Root broke up the no-hitter with a double in the sixth and had the only Cougar hit while Brown and Derrick Henson had two hits each for Dyersburg.
On Friday, the Cougars had perhaps their worst outing of the season as the Eagles employed the mercy rule after only seven innings with a 10-0 shoutout of their guests.
Jay Bolen started the game and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but things went down hill quickly for the Cougars after that as Dyersburg State not only broke up the no-hitter, but exploded for five runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth as they turned a tie game into a blowout.
Brown singled in a pair of runs while Beau Baker, Tyler Childress and and Bramlett all chipped in with an RBI each to take a 5-0 lead.
The Eagles put the game out of reach with four more in the sixth as Baker knocked in two more with a single and the home team finished the rout with run 10 in the seventh as Bramlett singled in the final run for the win.
The Cougars left runners on base in three different innings, but couldn't push one across as Rorex picked up two of Cleveland State's five hits. Dylan Cupples tossed all seven innings to get the win for the Eagles while Bramlett, Baker, Childress and D.J. Fitzgerald paced the home team with two hits each.
The Cougars will host Georgia Perimeter on Tuesday at 2:00. |