LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team got the offense rolling in an Empire Conference doubleheader win over Lamar Community College on Sunday in Lamar, Colorado.
The Cougars spotted Lamar two runs in the first inning of the opening game and then came back and captured the 11-6 win. The second win saw the Cougars score 10 times in the first inning followed by a Tyler Easter grand slam in the fourth for the 17-2 win.
WNCC moves to 18-19 on the year but, more importantly, is still on top of the conference standings at 9-1. Lamar drops to 14-22 overall and 4-6 in the conference. Southeast is second in the conference at 8-2 followed by McCook at 7-3.
WNCC and Lamar will be back on the diamond in Lamar for another doubleheader. WNCC will then return home for a four-game series with Otero College next weekend.
The second game saw Shintaro Inoue go 2-for-2 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Inoue also blasted a home run which gave him 24 for his Cougar career, tying the record held by Pete Rogers from 2003 and 2004.
Ashton Ross had the hot bat in game two with a 4-for-5 day with three RBIs, while Hunter McCollum, Alex Ainsworth, Kensei Oikawa, and Arturo Montiel each had two hits. Montiel had four RBIs with a double, while Ainsworth had a home run.
The first inning was all the Cougars needed as they loaded the bases on free passes. Tyler Easter scored two runs followed by Ross getting a run-scoring single. Oikawa made it 4-0 with a groundout RBI. WNCC finished off the scoring when Inoue launched a 3-run home run to tie the career record and make it 10-0.
WNCC didn't score again until the fifth when they plated five runs. That inning started with Hunter McCollum getting a single followed by Inoue earning a walk. Alex Ainsworth then doubled home the first run followed by Ross getting a run-scoring single to make it 12-0. The Cougars loaded the bases and Montiel delivered a 3-run double to make it 15-0.
Lamar plated two in the fifth to make it 15-2, but WNCC answered with single runs in the sixth and seventh. The sixth saw Ross get a run-scoring single while the seventh saw Bryce Peterson get a bases-loaded walk for the final score.
Adrian Short got the win on the mound with a masterful pitching performance. Short went six innings in allowing just two hits and two runs while walking just one and striking out 11.
In the first game, Hunter McCollom got the win on the mound with a 7-strikeout contest while allowing six runs.
Offensively, the Cougars had 14 hits with three home runs and three doubles. Easter had the big game with five RBIs, including a home run. Peterson had three hits in the contest with two runs scored.
Ryan Platte, Inoue, and Mathieu Levesque each had two hits. Inoue had three RBIs in the contest.
Lamar got things started first with two runs in the first. WNCC answered with one in the second on a Garrett Dodd solo home run. Lamar made it 3-1 with a run in the second.
The Cougars came back with four in the third and five in the fourth to go up 10-3. The fourth saw WNCC load the bases and then Easter blasted a grand slam for the four runs. The fifth saw WNCC load the bases again to begin the inning and this time it was Inoue who had a double to score three runs. With two outs, Ross made it 10-3 with a 2-run home run.
WNCC's final run came in the sixth when Easter doubled home Peterson.
Game 1
WNCC 014 501 0 – 11 14 4
Lamar 210 012 0 – 6 9 1
WP – Hunter McCollum; S – Gus Allred.
2B – Mathieu Levesque, Shintaro Inoue, Tyler Easter.
HR – Ashton Ross, Tyler Easter, Garrett Dodd.
Game 2
WNCC (10)00 051 1 – 17 16 1
Lamar 000 020 0 – 2 3 3
WP – Adrian Short.
2B – Alex Ainsworth, Arturo Montiel.
HR – Shintaro Inoue.