Miami, Okla. – This afternoon the Columbia College baseball team was back in action when they took on Peru State (Neb.) College in their final game of the 2018 Joplin Invitational. The Cougars racked up 17 hits in the game as they defeated the Bobcats by a final score of 13-6 to improve to 8-2 on the season.
Columbia College got off to a great start in this one as Ethan Howser led off the game with a solo homerun in the top of the first to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. They were able to add another run in the top of the second and held a 5-0 advantage heading into the bottom half of the inning. The Bobcats responded with a three run rally in the bottom of the second to cut the score to 5-3 but the Cougars were able to answer with a three run inning of their own to extend their lead to 8-3. Peru State scored a run in the bottom of the third to cut Columbia's lead to 8-4 but another three run inning from the Cougars in the top of the sixth gave them an 11-4 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. The Bobcats did their to get back into the game and were able to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead 11-6 but that was as close as they would get as the Cougars rallied for two more runs in the top of the seventh to solidify their third win of the weekend.
Jeremy Rettig (2-1) got the start in this one as the senior allowed seven hits and five earned runs while striking out seven batters in 5.0 innings of work. Mark Haire (0-0) came into relieve Rettig in sixth and allowed just two hits while fanning three batters in the final two innings of the game. Offensively, the Cougars were led by Ethan Howser who went 3-5 with two RBI's, Blade McKee who went 2-4 with two runs scored, Tim Fox who went 2-5 with a homerun and two RBI's, and Jordan Wright who went 3-4 with four RBI's.
The baseball team is back in action on Friday, February 23rd when they travel to Henderson, Tennessee, to open up conference play against Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) University. The Cougars will play a doubleheader against the Lions starting at 1 p.m.
