Fort Wayne, Ind. -- The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) Cougars took on the Trojans of Taylor University in a double header on Saturday to wrap up the series. The Cougs were able to split the day but drop the series 1-3. 

Game 1 was all Cougars from the jump. Blaine McRae did great on the mound going 5.0 innings pitched with 8 strikeouts. Jayden Lepper scored on a wild pitch in the first to jump out to a 1-0 lead. USF put up four runs in the second with RBIs from Callan Stauffer, Jayden Lepper, Xavier Croxton, and Eli Riley. They then had a 7 run inning in the third to go up 12-0. Taylor responded with 3 runs in the fourth and fifth, but Ayden Lichtensteiger homered to get one back. Geoffrey Niedens came in during the 7th inning and struck out 3 batters to seal the deal. The Cougars beat the number 9 Trojans 16-6 by way of run rule. 

Game 2 was a wild back and forth game. The Cougars came out hot scoring 6 in the first with half of them coming from a 3 RBI double from Kolton Cardenas. The Trojans responded with two of their own but Nick Parsons responded with a 3-run homerun to make it 9-2. In the top of the fourth Taylor capitalized on some Cougar mistakes scoring 7 to tie it up. They took a 1 run lead into the bottom of the sixth 10-9. Sam Pesa had a two out single to tie it up heading into the final innings. Taylor scored 2 more and that's how this one would end, with the Trojans on top 12-10.

The Cougars are now 10-6 overall and 1-3 in conference and will take on Huntington for a four game series at Couger Field. Be sure to come out Friday and Saturday to support the team. 

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 -