It was good weather for baseball over the weekend, and there was a good crowd on hand as the Crimson Pride hosted IU Kokomo for a three game series in the River States Conference.

Friday, March 20
Gavin Haltom has been used as a late inning reliever this season, but he got the starting nod against IU Kokomo on Friday. He was not as sharp as he normally is, and the Cougars got to him early. They score five runs in the first as Rodney Rachel hit a 1-out two run homer for the first runs of the game. The Cougars used that home run, a double, single, two walks, a hit-by-pitch and an error to take a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the first.

The Crimson Pride answered in the bottom half as Quentcy Perry led off with a single and a steal of second. After Wyatt Sutton walked, Gavin Lash moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Carson McNulty ripped an RBI single to score Perry and move Sutton to third. Garrett Thurman followed with a 3-run home run, and the score after one inning was 5-4.

IU Kokomo capitalized on poor fielding in the second as the Crimson Pride committed four errors in the inning. The Cougars first three batters had a double and two singles for their only hits of the inning. A wild pitch and infield errors combined for five more runs for the visitors, and their lead was 10-4, and the score stayed there until the top of the fifth.

The Cougars used a 1-out walk and back-to-back hit batsmen to load the bases. A 2-run single and a groundout plated three runs for a 13-4 lead.

The Crimson Pride offense came to life in the bottom of the fifth. Sutton led off with a single and scored on a home run by Lash. McNulty, Thurman and Wes McNeff singled to add one run with Thurman and McNeff at first and third with no outs. Thurman later scored on a groundout, and it was 13-8 after five.

IU Kokomo added six runs in the seventh to make the final score 19-8.

Saturday, March 21
Game 1
IU Kokomo struck first once again, scoring three runs in the first inning off starter Carter Reitz. Reitz was victimized by an error after a strikeout, which allowed the first run to score. The Cougars used that error and four singles to lead 3-0 in the first.The Crimson Pride responded with a run in the bottom of the inning as Sutton hit a 1-out double and Lash drove him in with a single. McNulty added a single, but the inning ended with runners at the corners and the score 3-1.

The Cougars added one in the fifth on a triple and groundout. In the sixth they added two more on two singles and two errors, stretching the lead to 6-1. Wes McNeff hammered a solo home run in the sixth for the Crimson Pride. IU Kokomo scored two more runs in the seventh on a pair of doubles and an error, making the score 8-2.

Perry led off the IUC half of the seventh with a single, and moved to second on a walk to Sutton. Lash doubled to score both runners with no outs. AJ Burkhalter came on in relief for IU Kokomo and shut down the Crimson Pride the rest of the way for an 8-4 Cougar win.

Game 2
IU Kokomo struck in the first inning once again. Rachel hit a 1-out two run homer in the first for the second time in the series, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead. The crimson Pride came right back in the bottom half of the inning. Sutton led off with a double and Lash walked to put two on with no outs. A wild pitch moved the runners up, and Thurman delivered a 1-out two run single to tie the game. A couple of errors by the Cougars and a single by Perry allowed two more runs to score to give IUC the 4-2 lead after one inning.

Doubles by McNulty and McNeff in the third upped the lead to 5-2. Perry led off the fourth with a double and scored one out later on a sacrifice fly by Alex McComb. Rachel responded with an RBI triple for the Cougars in the fifth to make the score 6-3.

McNulty led off the fifth with a single. McNeff and Avery Seegers walked to load the bases. All three were replaced by pinch runners ( Jayden Sticco, Cyrus Robinson and Trey VanMeter) in the inning. Perry's sacrifice fly scored Sticco. VanMeter and Robinson executed a double-stel to score Robinson, making the score 8-3 after five innings.

IU Kokomo scored three runs in the sixth to cut the lead to two at 8-6. Ethan Brinsfield and Haltom came on in relief on the sixth and seventh to secure the 8-6 win for the Crimson Pride. Caleb Richards started on the mound and gave the Crimson Pride five strong innings to get the win.

Next on the schedule:
The Crimson Pride travel to Grace College for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 24.