The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team received two stellar pitching performances in claiming two wins over Miles Community College Sunday afternoon at Cleveland Field.

                Alex Achtermann went five strong innings, striking out four in helping the Cougars to the 8-2 win in the opener.

                The second game saw a masterful pitching performance from freshman Claude Bova, who struck out 11 in six innings in helping the Cougars to the 2-1 win.

                WNCC went 4-0 over the weekend and Bova said the team played well on both days. On Saturday, the Cougars won 13-3 and 12-2 while Sunday's games were much closer.

                "I thought we played pretty awesome, actually," the Sydney, Australia, right-handed pitcher said. "Coming off those two wins yesterday [Saturday] I thought we would come out just easy going, but the bats came out firing and we played pretty awesome."

                The pitching was definitely something that shined on the day and that helped the Cougars to the doubleheader sweep

                Bova said he and Achtermann both threw well in helping WNCC get two wins.

                "Alex pitched pretty well. He has always done really well and he is a good guy for us," he said. "And I just went there today, focusing on hitting my spots and came out with a good result."

                The second game was definitely a pitcher's duel with both teams making the most of their base hits. The two teams combined for seven hits in the contest. It was also a pitcher's duel between Bova and Miles' thrower Braxton Boyle.

                All the runs that WNCC needed came early, scoring once in the first as Brock Randels scored on a groundout for the early 1-0 lead.

                WNCC went up 2-0 in the third as Achtermann doubled home Randels for the second run.

                That was all the runs the Cougars needed behind Bova's pitching

                Miles made a game of it in the seventh by scoring a run, but relief pitcher Alex Oehme induced a lazy pop fly in foul territory for the final out.

                Achtermann had three of the Cougar's four hits in the game. Cooper Buchhammer had the other hit.

                While WNCC won a close one in game two, the first game saw the Cougars control the contest from the start, scoring a single run in the second and two runs each in the third and fourth for a 5-0 lead.

                Miles plated two in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-2, but WNCC answered right back by scoring three in the fifth. Miles walked the bases loaded with two outs. Ryan Grasser came to the plate and rips a 3-run double to put WNCC up 8-2.

                Zac Moran came in to relief Achtermann for the final two innings and picked off two runners at first in the sixth inning.

                Achtermann went five innings in scattering three hits and giving up two runs. He also struck out four and walked on. Moran finished the game by going two innings in allowing just one hit.

                WNCC managed seven hits led by Grasser's two hits. Grasser had three RBIs and scored a run. Isaac Taylor also had a double in the game with two runs scored.

                Bova said this team improved considerably from last week against Garden City Community College they lost four games.

                "I think we made great improvements. Last week it was our first games and we were rusty," Bova said. "This week we really showed what we can do and I am looking forward to next week."

                WNCC will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Northeastern Junior College on Friday for an Empire Conference doubleheader and then on to face Barton Community College Saturday and Sunday.

First Game

Miles                     000 020 0 – 2 4 0

WNCC                   012 230 x – 8 7 2

WP – Alex Achtermann; 2B – Ryan Grasser, Isaac Taylor.

Second Game

Miles (0-4)          000 000 1 – 1 3 1

WNCC (4-4)         101 000 x – 2 4 0

WP – Claude Bova, S – Alex Oehme; 2B – Achtermann 2.