Baseball completed its swing through the Cuesta/Hancock Spring Break Tournament with their second take down of a ranked team.  The Cougars, who beat #21 Cypress on Tuesday, outlasted #17 Merced, 14-11, today.  The Cougars drew first blood on Third Baseman Zach Tallerman's two-run home run in the 1st inning, but the Blue Devils came roaring back with eight runs in the 4th inning to take the lead.  Cuesta answered seven runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame and never trailed again, but it was Tallerman's RBI-triple in the 6th inning that really sealed the victory.  Tallerman ended the day a single short of the cycle with a Double, Triple and Home Run, along with a pair of walks, four runs scored and five driven in.  He also had some help from his partner across the infield, First Baseman Holden Cumiskey.  Cumiskey went 2-for-5, including a Double, and drove in five runs on the day.   Of course, with 11 runs allowed on the day, it was the Cougars' best pitching performance, but Relievers Charlie Williams and Joseph Yuetter came in to earn the victory and a save, respectively.  Williams entered the game and shut down the Blue Devils' eight-run 4th inning, while striking out five batsmen en route to the victory, while Yuetter struckout three batsmen over his 2.2 innings of work to earn the Save.  

The Cougars return to their Western State Conference schedule tomorrow, Friday, April 15, with a Covid Make-up game against Santa Barbara City at 2:30.  The Vaqueros are currently two games behind the Cougars in the WSC standings with eight games to play.