The Western Nebraska Community College got the offense cranked up and played strong defensively in capturing an Empire Conference doubleheader from Miles Community College Sunday at Cleveland Field.

                The opener saw Alex Achtermann go the distance on the mound in rolling the Cougars to the 12-2 win. Game two was just as impressive offensively as the Cougars picked up the 11-3.

                WNCC, which improves to an Empire Conference-leading 7-1, will be back in action with Miles Community College Monday afternoon beginning at noon for the final two games of the 6-game series.

                Stuart Eurich, who had a hot day with a home run, said the team played well.

                "We played really good today. We knew we had to come out and get these wins after a rough stretch in Arizona and we have conference games here on out," he said. "We came out today and took it to them. Losing that one yesterday [Saturday] we knew we shouldn't have lost it so coming out today we had a good offensive day."

                Eurich said Sunday's play was a marked improved over Saturday, where the Cougars let a win slip away to fall to the Pioneers 11-.

                "We learned a lot from that loss," Eurich said. "We just knew that we couldn't keep it close, we need to bury them as quick as possible."

                The Cougars two wins started with the fellas on the mound. Game one winner Achtermann went five innings in scattering just three hits while facing just 20 batters. Achtermann struck out three and walked two.

                Game two winner Alex Oehme went six strong innings in striking out nine. Oehme scattered four hits while not walking four. Brevin Baessler finished off the game, tossing a strong seventh inning with a strike out.

                The bats and the running game also showed up big in, not only Sunday's games, but also the two games on Saturday. Eurich said offense is coming around.

                "We struggled hitting in Arizona and we knew we were seeing good pitching," he said. "We just knew we had to come out and hit it."

                Game one, the Cougars pounded out 10 hits with five doubles and one home run. Eurich and Lucas Piatchek each had two hits in the contest. Stuart finished with a home run, three runs scored, three RBIs, and two stolen bases.

                Piatchek had a double with two runs scored and two RBIs.

                Also collecting doubles in the win were Brandon Bachar, Ryan Grasser, Isaac Taylor, and Brock Randels. Bachar had two runs scored, while Randels finished with two runs scored and two walks.

                The second game saw the team finish with 11 hits with just on extra base hit. Benson led the way with three singles with two RBIs and two runs scores. Brandan Maher and Esai Hernandez each had two hits. Hernandez had a double with two runs scored, while Maher had a run scored.

                Eurich said they need to build off these two wins and not take any team lightly as they get ready for Monday's doubleheader.

                "The pitchers are doing great so they just need to keep on doing what they are doing," he said. "We just need to keep the ball in play. The defense plays great behind them in getting the pitches up."

First Game

Miles                     002 00 – 2 3 3

WNCC                   035 04 – 12 10 1

WP – Alex Achtermann; 2B – Brandon Bachar, Ryan Grasser, Isaac Taylor, Brock Randels, Lucas Piatchek; HR – Stuart Eurich.

Miles                     100 020 0 – 3 4 8

WNCC                   134 300 x --11 11 0

WP – Alex Oehme; 2B – Esai Hernandez.