FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Saint Francis Cougars played host to the Bethel University Pilots at Cougar Baseball Field Thursday March 16th in a doubleheader, winning both games of the series by scores of 5-4 and 10-3.

In the first series, Riley Perlich earned the start for the Cougars to start the game. The first couple of innings were rough for the Cougars as the Pilots offense struck first with a single in the 2nd and another in the 5th to go up 2-0. But, the Cougars offense found its energy and rode the momentum through to a dominant performance for the series. Xavier Croxton's single and Nick Parsons double added runs to the board, tying the game 2-2 in the 6th. Then, pinch hitter Noah Mack's line drive single would send 2 more Cougars home in the 8th making it 4-2. Ayden Lichtensteiger's sacrifice fly earned him an RBI and extended the Cougar score to 5-2. The Pilots tried to respond quickly in the 9th with a sacrifice fly and a walk to cut the lead to 5-4, but the Cougars defense closed it out.

In the second series, Blaine McRae started on the mound fr the Cougars. The Cougars kept the same energy from the last game and continued their offensive prowl. The Cougars started with an Xavier Croxton 2-run homerun in the 1st making it 2-0. Then, came a Sam Pesa solo homerun, and a Jayden Lepper groundout single to extend the lead 4-0. Then, a Sam Pesa RBI in the 3rd would be the last of the energy from the Cougars for a while. The Pilots hit an RBI single in the 4th, but the Cougars responded with a 2-run RBI double and a steal to make the lead 8-1. The Pilots hit another RBI in the 5th, but once again the Cougars responded with a sacrifice fly and a single to make it 10-2. The frustrated Pilots tried to respond fast, but ended up only getting a single out of the 6th inning as they fell 10-3 against the Cougars. The Cougars secure the day series against the Pilots with a victory.

The Cougars are now 8-14 overall and 3-7 in the Crossroads League conference. The Cougars will continue their series against Bethel University on Monday March 20th in Fort Wayne, Indiana. First pitch for Game One of the series will be at 12pm at Cougar Baseball Field with Game Two following 3ominutes after the final out.

Cougar fans stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.

-Hayden Williamson-