St. Louis, Mo. - This afternoon, the Columbia College men's baseball team was back in action as they played against the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets to finish their final game of the AMC Series. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 6^th, but had to be postponed due to lighting. The Cougars had a strong showing as they dominated the Hornets and won 23-4 in seven innings. The Cougars are now 26-19 on the season and 21-9 in conference play.

The Cougars and the Hornets both scored a run in the first inning. Hayden Ludwig then hit a three-run homerun in the second to take the lead 4-1. Columbia kept their momentum in the third innings as they tallied up nine runs, including a solo homerun by Kenny Piper to increase their lead 13-1. Harris-Stowe responded by scoring three runs in the same inning. The Cougars defense was on fire as they stopped the Hornets from adding any more runs for the rest of the game. Columbia went on to add five runs in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two more in the seventh to secure their win over Harris-Stowe.
 
Grant Starke (3-1) got the start on the mound for the Cougars as he struck out three batters in 2.0 innings. Starke was relieved by Andrew Baker, Derek Sallee (0-2), and Conner Darnell (3-2) as they struck out a combined five batters and did not allow any earned runs in the final 5.0 innings of the game. Offensively, the Cougars were led by Hayden Ludwig who had two hits while scoring three runs and had four RBI, Kenny Piper who had two hits while scoring two runs and had four RBI, Dalton Bealmer who had two hits while scoring three runs and had three RBI, and Ethan Howser who had three hits while scoring a run and had three RBI to round up the top performers.
 
The baseball team is back in action when they travel to Joplin, Missouri for the AMC Tournament on Wednesday, May 1^st. The American Midwest Conference announced today the seeding for the tournament. The Cougars finished second in the conference and will play against the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets with the game beginning at 1 p.m.