Cougars Ground V-Hawks in Doubleheader

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Viterbo University Baseball team dropped the first two games of a weekend series with (RV) Columbia College (Mo.) on Friday afternoon, 5-1 and 11-5. The V-Hawks fall to 1-16, while the Cougars improve to 10-8.

The V-Hawks started the first game well, as Blake Warner homered in the top of the first, but the Cougars responded with a run of their. Neither team would record a hit in the second or third, but in the fourth, Columbia scored four on five hits. A single and double for the V-Hawks in the fifth would not produce nay runs, not two more singles in the sixth. Three straight outs in the seventh ended the game, 1-5.

Five V-Hawks recorded a hit, including the home run from Warner and a double form Chance Claman. Five Cougars also had hits. Brandon Jaenke (L, 0-4) had eight strikeouts over 4.0 innings, while Dan Fick (W, 3-0) recorded three.

In the second game, Columbia took the one run lead in the bottom of the first. Despite V-Hawk hits in the third and fourth, theyh did not reach home, and CC added to their lead with a solo home run, and a big fourth inning that saw five runs on five hits. The lead grew even more in the fifth after two more hits produced three runs, but back-to-back doubles from Brett Stuessel and Warner in the sixth got Viterbo back on the board, followed by RBIs from Nathan Faust and Marcus Hornacek. CC added another solo home run in the bottom of the frame, but the V-Hawks rally continued with a Gavin Daniel home run and Ryder Mortensen RBI single, but it would end there, 5-11.

Mortensen led eight V-Hawks with hits with two and an RBI. Stuessel scored two runs. Cayden Nicoletto led the Cougars, going 3-of-4 with two RIBs. Jake Ouweneel (L, 0-4) recorded one strikeout over 3.1 IP, while Reece Clapp (W, 1-2) had three in six innings.

The V-Hawks complete their series with Columbia on Saturday, March 2.