Columbia, Mo. – Tonight the Columbia College baseball team was back in action when they took on the Morthland (Ill.) College Patriots in a nonconference matchup. The Cougars, who came into this game on an eight game winning streak, were able to extend their streak to nine straight games after defeating the Patriots by a final score of 10-0 in seven innings. With the win, the Cougars improve to 17-7 on the season.

The Cougars got off to a great start in this game as Ethan Howser started off the bottom of the first inning with a base hit and later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Kenny Piper. Columbia College's offense continued to roll as the game progressed and the Cougars added one run in the second, three runs in the fourth, one run in the fifth and four runs in the seventh while cruising to their 17^th win of the season.

Cody Ebert was the starting pitcher for the Cougars in this game allowing just three base runners throughout seven innings of work while not giving up a single hit to the Patriots. Offensively, Columbia College was led by Ethan Howser who went 2-4 with two RBI's and Alex Anderson who went 2-3 with two runs scored.

The Cougars are back in action tomorrow, March 18^th when they face off against Morthland College in the final two games of the three game series. The first game of the doubleheader is set for 12 p.m. with the second game to immediately follow at Atkins Park.