Cougars lock in the first two wins against the Knights
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Marian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 5 | 4 | 0 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Marian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Fort Wayne, Ind. --The University of Saint Francis (Ind). Cougars baseball team took on the Marion University Knights for a Crossroads League clash. They executed well in all facets of the game to take both games to start the series.
Perry Stowe dominated game one in his 7 innings of work by only allowing 1 run with 9 strikeouts. This game stayed 0-0 until the third inning when USF jumped out to a lead. Xavier Croxton hit a triple that brought in 3 runs and Sam Pesa brought him in with a double. This put the Cougs up 4-0 until the bottom of the fifth when they scored another from some great situational baseball. Xavier Croxton brought in Callan Stauffer with a sacrifice fly out to extend the lead to 5. The Knights brought one across in the top of the seventh to make it a 5-1 game. Andrew Kent and Graham Kelham came out of the bullpen to stabilize the game and help USF win this one 5-1.
Luke Siren had another great outing this week going all 7 innings only allowing 1 run with 10 strikeouts and 0 walks. The USF offense jumped out to a lead again in the second from a big hit from Brenden Lytle. After USF took a 1-0 lead, no one scored until Marian responded with a solo homerun in the fifth to tie it up. But the Cougs responded in a big way with a Jayden Lepper rbi single, a sacrifice fly from Xavier Croxton, and rbi single from Sam Pesa. This made it a 4-1 ballgame game heading into the 6th. But Luke Siren didn't allow anymore to cross the plate as the Cougs finished on top 4-1.
There were many key contributors for USF in this one. Perry Stowe and Luke Siren had great starts on the mound to help their offense go attack. Andrew Kent and Graham Kelham did well out of the bullpen too. Eli Riley threw out a couple attempted stealers at big moments as well. Xavier Croxton was 2-6 with 5 huge rbis on the day. Brenden Lytle was 2-4 with a pair of walks to go along with an rbi. There were many great at bats throughout the order and the offenses timely hitting helped them to win these two today.
The Cougars are now 22-13 and 12-10 in conference play. They look to finish up and win the series against Marian University at Cougar Field on Sunday. The first pitch will be at 12:00 PM est.
Cougar fans stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.
- Sam Pesa -