The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team got some stellar bullpen relief as the Cougars took a doubleheader from Dawson Community College Saturday afternoon at Cleveland Field.

                The Cougars got a seven-strikeout performance from Carter Reisig in capturing the 9-5 first-game win. The second game saw the Cougars score four, sixth-inning runs to capture the 13-8 nine-inning win.

                The two teams will be back in action Sunday at Cleveland Field for another doubleheader beginning at 12 noon.

                WNCC head coach Mike Jones was excited to see how the pitchers' out of the bullpen came in and performed Saturday afternoon.

                "We had some guys step up that came out of the bullpen," Jones said. "I thought Carter Reisig did an outstanding job. We had to rush him into the game after Arthur had a shaky start. I though he showed a lot of mental toughness, being able to come into the game and shut their offense down and give our offense an opportunity to score."
                Collecting the two wins was also huge for the Cougars, especially after dropping the extra-inning come-from-behind loss to Miles Community College on Tuesday at home.

                "Every time we get a win, it's going to be really, really important for us jst to show the mental toughness to be able to keep it together," Jones said. "After being behind early, that shows a lot of character for our team."

                WNCC got behind early in the opening game with Dawson scoring three in the first and one in the third. WNCC finally got on the scoreboard with two in the third on three doubles. Jude Russell led off the inning with a double and scored on a Vaughn Wilson double. Wilson came in to score on a Catcher Gladysh double to trail 4-2.

                The Cougars took the lead with a 6-run fourth inning. It all started with a single by Daniel Chavez and he scored on a Jase Satterfield single. With two outs, Satterfield scored to tie the game and later Russell scored on a wild pitch for the 5-4 lead. With two on, Will Harbison ripped a triple to score two runs and an 8-4 lead.

                Each team scored one run the rest of the game. Dawson scored in the fifth, while WNCC added a run in the sixth inning.

                WNCC only had six hits in the first game, but they made the most of those hits. Six different Cougars had one hit in the game. Harbison had two RBIs with his triple to lead the team, while Russel had three runs scored.

                Reisig got the win in relief of Arthur Saumande. Reisig went six innings, scattering seven hits and giving up just two runs while striking out seven and walking just one. Nelson Martinez tossed the final inning in allowing just one hit and striking out one.

                WNCC trailed 8-0 in game two after Dawson scored five in the top of the third. WNCC answered with six runs in the bottom of the frame to trail 8-6. Dakota Alber started the inning with a single and scored on a Gladysh triple. Gladysh came in to score on a Cooper Wilson single followed by a run-scoring single by Payton Denny. Ty Beutner then scored two with a triple and Beutner came in to score the sixth run on a ground out.

                WNCC tied the game in the fifth with single runs in the fourth and fifth. The fourth saw Alber lead off with a home run while the fifth saw WNCC load the bases and Payton Denny scored after Alber was hit by a pitch.

                The Cougars took the lead with four in the sixth, scoring all the runs with two outs. All four runs were scored on free passes and scoring on wild pitches for the 12-8 lead. WNCC's final run came in the eighth when Vaughn Wilson led off with a solo home run.

                WNCC finished with 13 hits in the second game. Alber and Cooper Wilson each had two hits in the contest. Alber had a home run with three RBIs and two runs scored while Wilson had two runs scored on two singles. Beutner scored twice and had two RBIs while Gladysh had two RBIs.

                WNCC utilized four pitchers in the nine-inning game. Javier Pena started and went 2 2/3 innings in allowing eight runs and striking out five. Kaden Ferguson followed and went 1 1/3 in allowing just one hits while striking out two. Peyton Markheim picked up the win as he followed with three innings of work while allowing two hits and four strikeouts. Ian GrafMank tossed the final two innings in not allowing a hit while striking out four.

Game 1
Dawson             301 010 0 – 5 8 3
WNCC                002 601 x – 9 6 0
WP – Carter Reisig.
2B – Catcher Gladysh, Jude Russell, Vaughn Wilson.
3B – Will Harbison.

Game 2
Dawson             035 000 000 – 8 8 2
WNCC                006 114 01x – 13 8 3
WP – Peyton Markheim.
3B – Catcher Gladysh, Ty Beutner.
HR – Dakota Alber, Vaughn Wilson