Caleb Collins
Cleveland State's baseball team went head to head with Chattanooga State in a doubleheader on Friday. The Cougars lost a close game one, by a score of 1-0, but ended up winning the second matchup, 5-0 over Chattanooga State.
Ryan Lloyd was on the mound for the Cougars in game one, going 5 innings with 1 earned run, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts.
Brock Browning came on in relief for Lloyd, going 2 innings with 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Ryan Lloyd took the loss for the Cougars, his record stands at 1-2.
Cameron Payne, Noah Hill, and Hunter Oliver each had a hit on the day while Cameron Hankins was able to draw a leadoff walk in the 3rd inning.
After the first game loss, the Cougars quickly turned it around and won the second game, 5-1. The scoring got started for the Cougars in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Noah Hill ripped a 3-run home run, scoring Tucker Mendenhall and Sean Coakley. Chattanooga State responded with a run in the 4th inning, bringing the score to 3-1 in favor of the Cougars. Cleveland State extended their lead in the 5th inning, with a Noah Peterson 2-run home run, scoring Noah Hill. The Cougars would go on to win 5-1.
Collin Grove got the win on the mound for the Cougars, going 6 innings with 1 earned run, 2 walks, and a solid 10 strikeouts. This was Grove's first win of the season. Tyler Zak came in for relief and went 1 inning with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts.
Head Coach Mike Policastro commented, "Both starters Lloyd and Grove threw really well today only giving up 2 runs on the day. Offensively right now we have too many guys struggling, but we were about to use home runs from Hill and Peterson to win game 2. We'll need to figure it out soon as conference play begins next week."
The Cougars take on West Georgia Tech on the road in a doubleheader on Saturday, February 24th starting at 12:00 PM.