Cuesta Baseball took the early lead in the first game their two-game series with #2 Saddleback. The Bobcats came to SLO with a 9-1 record and riding a three-game winning streak. The host Cougars opened the season 1-7 and dropped out of the rankings but have now won three of their past four contests. Today they drew first blood against Saddleback and held a 7-1 lead after the 7th-inning stretch, but the big inning has haunted the Cougars' pitching staff this season and the Bobcats came all the way back against the Cougars bullpen. Cuesta Starter Ben Broughton was lifted in the 7th inning, leading 7-1, after allowing his only one run in his final inning on the mound. The Cougars were just six outs away from the win, but that is when Bobcats got hot. Saddleback posted eight runs, as the Cougars used four pitchers, to take the lead in the 8th inning, 9-7. The Cougars tied the game in their last at bat after Third Baseman Zach Tallerman doubled in a run and later scored on a Bobcat error. Both teams went scoreless in the 10th inning and Cuesta Closer Jack Lewis Miller shutdown Saddleback in both extra innings, while the offense provided the heroics. In the 11th inning, First Baseman Holden Cumiskey reached a one-out doubled and scored two batters later Designated Hitter Liam MacDonald RBI-single for the dramatic win, 10-9. Miller earned the victory in relief, while Shortstop Ryan Fenn and Right fielder Mattias Sessing led a group of four Cuesta players, including Tallerman, that enjoyed a multi-hit game. Fenn was 4-for-6, including a home run, with two runs scored and a RBI, while Sessing was 3-for-5, including a triple, with a run scored and two driven in.
The Cougars improved to 4-8 on the season and host Saddleback, again, tomorrow at 1 PM.
