Baseball won the first game of a three-game series with local rival Allan Hancock, 12-5, to hand the Bulldogs their first conference loss of the season.  The Bulldogs currently hold a half-game lead over the Cougars in the Western State Conference standings, 5-1 to 5-2, with two games left in this week's series.  Cuesta used a five-run 1st-inning to put the Bulldogs on their heels and added pair of runs in each of the next two frames to take a commanding lead, 9-0.  The Cougars took advantage of four Bulldog errors and collected ten hits, before the Bulldogs were able to manufacture a run from Cuesta Pitcher Justin Vose (pict) in the 4th inning. The Bulldogs pulled within four runs in the 6th, but the Cougars tagged on an insurance run in each of their last three at-bats to secure the win.  On offense eight Cuesta batsmen collected a hit on the day, including three-hit games for returning all-WSC First Teamers Ethan Royal and Zachary Tallerman.  Rightfielder Mattias Sessing and Catcher Dalton Cram each collected two hits, while also tying Hancock's Luke Wessel with a game-high three RBI. On his way to his second victory, Vose scattered ten hits in the game and allowed only one earned over eight innings of work.  The victory improves the Cougars' overall record to 11-7-1 on the season.

The Cougars and Bulldogs take the series to Santa Maria on Wednesday (2 PM), tomorrow, and wrap-up the week back in SLO on Thursday (Noon), before both teams seek shelter from the storms.