Cougars Blanked in Four-Game Series against Freed-Hardeman
HENDERSON, Ten. -- On Saturday afternoon, the University of Saint Francis Cougars (0-4) took on the RV Freed-Hardeman Lions (7-3) in Henderson, Tennessee losing both series with the Lions 2-1 and 8-7.
In the opening game, sophomore pitcher Corey Wolters took the mound to start for the Cougars and through four innings kept the Lions offense guessing. But the Lions would find momentum in the fifth crushing a solo homerun to go up 1-0 in the bottom of the 5th. Wolters was relieved from the mound after this, but the Cougars hope was not yet lost. The Cougars pitching managed to keep the Lions stunted through the next four innings. In the top of the 9th Sam Pesa would respond with a solo homerun of his own to tie the game 1-1. In the extra innings battle, the Lions would find momentum again on an RBI single that would allow them to score making it 2-1. The Cougars would lose the first game of the series, but looked to go into the next game more determined.
In the second game, sophomore Deron Swanson would take the mound for the Cougars. The Cougars found momentum in the third off a pick-off error by the Lions, allowing Callan Stauffer to steal home and put the Cougars up 1-0. But the Lions would quickly respond back to this error in the bottom of the third crushing a two-run homerun, taking the lead 2-1. Swanson was retired shortly after, but the Cougars offense looked to keep fighting. In the top of the fourth a pair of sacrifice RBIs by Andrew Kent and Callan Stauffer allowed the Cougars to send two runners home taking the lead back 3-2. The Lions responded with a sacrifice fly of their own in the bottom of the fifth to tie 3-3.
In the top of the sixth, the Cougars retook the lead off a walk that sent Mike Jovanovic home, and a Jayden Lepper single that allowed Brenden Lytle to score, extending the Cougars lead to 5-3. Unfortunately for USF, the Lions fought back in the bottom of the sixth hitting a double that cut the deficit to 5-4. The Cougars last piece of offense came in the top of the 7th off a Callan Stauffer single and Lions error that allowed two Cougars to score making it a 7-4 lead. From there the Lions would rally back in the bottom of the 7th scoring off a balk and a single to cut it to a close 7-6 deficit. The Lions found a way to closeout the game in the bottom of the eighth scoring off a single, and catcher pick-off error making it an 8-7 victory. The Cougars dropped all four games in the series to the Lions but look to rally back for the next series.
The Cougars resume play Friday February 17th, traveling to Pulaski, Tennessee to take on The University of Tennessee Southern at the UT Southern Baseball Diamond.
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-