The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team took five of six Empire Conference games from Miles Community College over the weekend, including taking both doubleheaders on Sunday and Monday.

                On Sunday, The Cougars captured two impressive wins, with 12-2 and 11-3 victories. The offense stayed hot on Monday, too.

                Monday's opener saw WNCC get home runs from Isaac Taylor and Stuart, but it was Lincoln Trujillo's sixth inning pinch hit single that scored the go-ahead run for the 10-9 win. The second game saw Trujillo finish with eight RBIs, including a grand slam and a 3-run bomb to lead the Cougars to the 15-9 win.

                Trujillo, who finished Monday with three hits, said the team played well, especially offensively all weekend.

                "We played really well," Trujillo said. "We played two complete games. We were able to close them out and our offense swung the bat really well. Our pitchers threw a lot of strikes and our defense played well behind them."

                More important, the Cougars remain atop the conference standings with a 9-1 record. Lamar is in second at 9-4 and Trinidad State is third at 8-4.

                Trujillo, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, said it feels good to be on top of the conference, but there is plenty of season to go so they must keep playing hard.

                "We feel really good right now, but there are a lot of games left," he said. "We are working on taking it one game at a time. This weekend we were able to come out and get us to 9-1 and keep us in the lead. We are playing well and hopefully we can keep our confidence up."

                Trujillo said the difference between this year and last year is playing together as a unit.

                "I think we learned to play more as a team cohesively," he said. "The pitching staff is a more complete pitching staff and our defense works well behind them as well. We don't have the big swings like we did last year, but we have guys that can go out there and put up some runs in tough situations when they have to."

                The first game saw the Cougars roll to a 9-0 lead off home runs by Taylor and Eurich. Miles came back to tie the game at 9-9 as they scored seven times in the fourth and then twice in the sixth.

                The Cougars went back in front 10-9 with a run in the sixth as Trujillo singles in Taylor with the go-ahead run.

                Ian Fisher than game in to close out the game with a 1-2-3 inning to get the win on the mound.

                Fisher got the win on the mound, but Eddy Nodarse went six innings in striking out eight and walking none. Nodarse allowed nine runs, four of which were earned.

                Offensively, WNCC had nine hits. Taylor and Lucas Piatchek each had two hits. Taylor had a double, home run, for RBIs, and two runs scored. Piatchek had a double with a run scored and a RBI>

                Eurich also had a home run to go with his three RBIs. Ty Benson also had a triple in the win.

                The second game saw the Cougars jump out to an 11-1 lead behind a grand slam by Trujillo in the first and then a 3-run shot in the second. WNCC couldn't put away the Pioneers after getting the big lead as the Pioneers scored three in the third and four in the sixth to cut the lead to 13-8.

                WNCC had 14 hits led by Brandon Maher with three hits, including a double, RBI, and a run scored. Five Cougars had two hits apiece. Trujillo had eight RBIs, two runs scored, and two home runs, while Alex Achtermann had a double with three runs scored.

                Also collecting two hits were Ryan Grasser with two singles and two runs scored, Cole Williams with two singles and a run scored; Brandon Bachar with two singles and three runs scored.

                WNCC threw six pitchers in the game. Blake Slaymaker started and went three innings in striking out three and allowing four runs and five this. Brevin Baessler, Zac Moran, and Nate Giefer all went one inning. Moran picked up the win with striking out one and allowing two hits.

                Nat Andresen and Ian Fisher pitched the seventh. Fisher struck out two to close out the game.

                WNCC will be back in action this weekend when they host Otero Junior College in conference doubleheaders.

Monday's Games

First Game

Miles                     000 702 0 – 9 11 0

WNCC                   513 001 x – 10 9 2

WP – Ian Fisher; 2B – Isaac Taylor, Lucas Piatchek; 3B – Ty Benson; HR – Isaac Taylor, Stuart Eurich.

Second Game

Miles                     013 004 1 – 9 10 2

WNCC (14-16)    650 202 x – 15 14 1

WP – Zac Moran; 2B – Alex Achtermann, Brandon Maher; HR – Lincoln Trujillo 2.