The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team got timely hits and stellar pitching in registering two five-inning wins over Miles Community College Saturday afternoon at Cleveland Field.

                In the opener, Brock Randels had a walk-off grand slam to help the Cougars to a five-inning 13-3 win. The second saw Jacob Pekol toss a three-hitter in the 12-2 win.

                "We played well. We pitched a lot better than we did a week ago. We played really good defense behind the pitchers as well. Offensively we were able to get ourselves into hitter's counts, were aggressive, and got on time with some fast balls and it was a good offensive day for us.

                Jones definitely saw improvement from last weekend's games with Garden City.

                "It was a much better performance," he said. "The at bats as an offensive unit were much better. We showed much more power this weekend than we did last weekend. We made a lot of improvements in one week and let's hope we continue to make more improvements."

                What WNCC was able to do in both games was make the most of base runners. In the first game, WNCC left only four runners on base and left just three on base in game two. Jones said they took advantage with their speed on the bases.

                "We have good athletes and good base running skills and we were able to take advantage of every opportunity that we got on the bases," he said. "We were aggressive and not afraid to make some mistakes and created a lot of scoring opportunities."

                The first game saw the Cougars scratch across runs on sacrifice flies and clutch hits. WNCC scored in all five innings, playing a single run in the first inning, two in the second, and three in the third for a 6-2 lead.

                WNCC opened up the game with three in the fourth and put the game away in the fifth as Randels launched a grand slam that ended the game via the 10-run run.

                Randels and Isaac Taylor each had two hits in the win. Randels finished with four RBIs and three runs scored; while Taylor had a run scored and a RBI.

                Stuart Eurich and Alex Achtermann also tallied doubles in the win.

                Angel Cortes picked up the win on the mound. Cortes went four innings, scattering seven hits and allowing two runs, while striking out six. Eddy Nodarse finished off the game by tossing an inning in relief while striking out two.

                WNCC dominated from the start in the second game behind the strong-arm pitching of Pekol. Pekol went five innings and had a no-hitter going into the fifth. Pekol struck out seven and walked three in facing just 20 batters.

                Offensively, the Cougar bats came alive, pounding out 10 hits including six extra base hits.

                Randels, Brandon Maher, and Cole Williams each had two hits. All three hitters, along with Achtermann all had doubles in the game. Ryan Grasser had a big 2-run triple in the second, while Tony Schubert had a 2-run home run in the second.

                WNCC controlled the game, scoring two in the first and then unloading for seven in the second inning for a 9-0 lead. WNCC led 12-0 heading into the fifth.

                WNCC and Miles will be back on the field at Cleveland Field with a noon start.

                "We have two more games [Sunday] and we have to come back out and the score goes right back to 0-0. You can't take any opponent lightly. You have to come back out tomorrow, get up and be ready to play."

First Game

Miles                     101 01 – 3 4 3

WNCC                   12334 – 13 7 2

WP – Angel Cortes; 2B – Stuart Eurich, Alex Achtermann; HR – Brock Randels

Second Game

Miles (0-2)          000 02 – 2 3 2

WNCC (2-4)         270 3x – 12 10 0

WP Jacob Pekol; 2B – Achtermann, Cole Williams, Brandon Maher, Randels; 3B – Ryan Grasser; HR – Tyler Shubert.