Columbia, Mo. - Today the Columbia College men's baseball team was back in action as they took the field for a doubleheader to finish out the AMC Series of the Week against the sixth ranked Freed-Hardeman University Lions. Columbia came out strong in game one winning 6-1, then fell short in game two 8-6. The Cougars are now 9-8 on the season and 5-4 in conference play.
In game one, the Cougars wasted no time cracking the scoreboard and taking a 1-0 lead after the first. In the third, Columbia batted in two more runs upping their lead 3-0. The momentum was in the Cougars favor as they hit back to back homeruns from Justin Randle and Bradley Prebay, who recorded his first career homerun, to hold a 5-0 lead after four innings. The Lions broke their silence with a solo homerun in the fifth, but Columbia stayed strong and got out of the inning allowing just that run, to remain ahead 5-1. In his next at bat, Prebay homered again, adding to the Cougars lead, 6-1. Columbia protected the field in the final inning to take game one 6-1.
Grant Starke was on the mound as he allowed just four hits, one earned run, and stuck out one batter in seven innings of work. Offensively, Nolan Rattai went 1-2 with two runs scored, Blade McKee went 1-3 with one run scored, Chase Urhahn was 2-3 with two RBIs, Kenny Piper had an RBI, Justin Randle was 1-3 with one run scored and one RBI, and Bradley Prebay was 2-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
In the second game, the Lions got on the board first leading 1-0 and then a three run homerun put them up 4-0 midway through the second. A two run homerun from Dalton Bealmer quickly cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning. In the third, Columbia was able to knock in one run to trail 4-3, however the Lions grabbed one in the fourth and two in the fifth to stretch their lead back to 7-4. The next two innings were scoreless for both sides. In the top of the eighth the Lions added another run, leading by four, but in the bottom of the inning the Cougars were keeping themselves alive as Kenny Piper hit a two run homer to get Columbia back within two runs. The Cougars put up a fight and held the Lions scoreless in the top of the ninth, but were unable to grab any runs in their last at bat as they fell 8-6.
Jacob Ford got the start as he allowed three hits, four earned runs, and had two strikeouts in two innings of play. Jordan Copeland, Lane Threlkeld, Josiah Imhoff, Devon Still, and Conner Darnell each had time on the mound as they combined for eight hits, three earned runs, and three strikeouts for the remainder of the game. Offensively, Nolan Rattai went 2-5 with one run scored, Chase Urhahn was 2-5 with one run scored and one RBI, Kenny Piper was 1-4 with one run scored and three RBIs, Ethan Howser was 1-4 with one run scored, Dalton Bealmer went 2-4 with one run scored and two RBIs, and Joshua Miller went 2-4.
The baseball team is back in action on Tuesday, March 12th when they travel to Hannibal-LaGrange University for an AMC doubleheader starting at noon.
