ALTON, Ill. – Columbia College baseball split a doubleheader with the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy (UHSP) on Saturday at Alton, Ill., taking the opener 8-5 before falling in a nine-inning thriller 3-2 in the nightcap. The Cougars move to 26-11-1 overall and 16-3-1 in American Midwest Conference (AMC) play.
Game One: Columbia 8, UHSP 5
The Cougars came out swinging in the opener, with Zac Fruend drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second before Dylan Carlton plated him with an RBI single to center to open the scoring. UHSP answered in the bottom of the second as Deklan Riggs singled through the right side to score Joe Celeste and tie the game at 1-1.
Columbia exploded for four runs in the third. Fruend led off with a solo homer to left center, and after Tyler Renn struck out, Joe Hoerchler followed with his own solo shot to push the lead to 3-1. Hunter Shoulta was hit by a pitch and Joey Marcinkiewicz then launched a two-run blast to center to make it 5-1. UHSP clawed back with two in the bottom of the third — Brandon Gibbs scored on a wild pitch and Holden Campbell scored on a Jacob Grim groundout — but the Cougars responded right away.
Fruend scored again in the fourth on a Tyler Renn RBI single, and Marcinkiewicz added his second home run of the game in the fifth, a solo shot to left, before Jack Dunn capped a two-run frame with an RBI single to push the lead to 8-3. The Eutectics made it interesting with a two-run sixth on a Dustin Aleck two-RBI single, but that was as close as they would get.
Kolten Payne earned the win, working 5.1 innings and striking out six. Eric Fields closed the door, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings for his third save of the season.
Game Two: UHSP 3, Columbia 2 (9 innings)
The nightcap was a pitchers' duel from start to finish. UHSP's Tristan Calmes was sensational, striking out 17 Cougar batters over nine complete innings in what would prove to be a gutsy performance.
Columbia drew first blood in the fourth when Renn connected on a solo home run to left. The teams traded single runs in the sixth and seventh, with Dustin Aleck homering for UHSP in the sixth and Holden Campbell doubling home an unearned run in the seventh to put the Eutectics ahead 2-1.
The Cougars came back to tie it in the eighth when Colton Nichols — pinch running for Jack Dunn, who led off with a double — scored on an error after Fruend struck out. With the game tied at 2-2 headed to the ninth, Columbia couldn't push across the winning run despite a Jack Dunn double and Carter Hutsell walk. In the bottom of the ninth, Eric Fields inherited a bases-loaded situation and walked Campbell to force in the game-winning run, as UHSP walked off 3-2.
Game One Statistical Leaders: CC def. UHSP, 8-5
- Joey Marcinkiewicz: 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs scored
- Zac Fruend: 2-for-4, HR, 1 RBI, 3 runs scored, SB
- Jack Dunn: 2-for-4, 1 RBI
- Dylan Carlton: 2-for-3, 1 RBI
- Joe Hoerchler: 1-for-4, HR, 1 RBI
- Pitching:
Game Two Statistical Leaders: UHSP def. CC, 3-2 (9 inn.)
- Tyler Renn: 1-for-3, HR, 1 RBI, BB
- Dylan Carlton: 2-for-4, SB
- Jack Dunn: 2-for-3, 2 2B, BB
- Pitching:
- Parker Anderson: 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
- Eric Fields (L, 7-1): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB
