C of O Beats Cold Front, Sweeps Ecclesia

College of the Ozarks took advantage of a warm day prior to the approaching cold front to get in a doubleheader.

The information below is from College of the Ozarks Sports Information:

After a rare February weekend off, the College of the Ozarks Baseball Bobcats returned to the diamond at Coach Bob Smith Field to take on the Royals of Ecclesia College. The Tuesday doubleheader was scheduled to begin at 1 PM and the Bobcats had an amazing 80-degree February day for baseball. 

College of the Ozarks vs Ecclesia College – Game 1
The Bobcats sent Rhett Hill to the mound for game one and he cruised through a three-up, three-down inning. The Bobcats came to bat and the fury was unleashed. A Chuck Hill single was followed by a Caleb Johnson walk, and a Spencer Greene hit by pitch. Rhett Hill walked to pick up an easy RBI before Ty Rush uncorked one for a grand slam and a 5-0 Bobcat lead. Trey Riley reached on an error with one out, and Jake Leeker singled to center to drive in Riley. Another Royals miscue put Logan Daniels aboard and Chuck Hill grounded out to the right side to add an RBI to his total. Caleb Johnson kept the line moving with a double to center and Spencer Greene launched one over the fence to add to the lead. Rhett Hill refused to be outdone and he drove one over the fence in left to put the Bobcats up 11-0 after only one inning. Hill erased a single with a double play in the second and the Bobcats came up looking for more. Charlie Parker smacked the third homer of the day, and the lead was 12-0. That was all the offense the Bobcats could get, and the game moved to the third. Both teams went down in order in the third and Ecclesia threatened in the fourth with a double and a Bobcat error, but Hill slammed the door shut and the shutout was intact. The Bobcat fourth was another offensive explosion as Ty Rush led off with a double, Charlie Parker was hit by a pitch, and Trey Riley reached on an error to score Rush. Jake Leeker drew a walk and Logan Daniels added a pair of runs with a single. Chuck Hill singled to drive in another run before Spencer Greene blasted a three-run shot for his second homerun of the afternoon. Rhett Hill singled to start the offense again and Ty Rush followed with a single of his own. Charlie Parker smashed another three-run blast, and the Bobcats were on fire. Trey Riley walked, and Jake Leeker added a single to set up a Logan Daniels RBI single to left field. Leeker scored on a fielder’s choice and when the dust settled, the Bobcat lead was 24-0. Garyn Hall came on to pitch in relief and Ecclesia broke through with a pair of runs in the fifth to remove the goose egg. Hall limited the damage and slammed the door to send the Cats back to the plate. The Bobcats were not finished, and Spencer Greene and Rhett Hill led off the fifth with back-to back walks. Lance Strahan got in on the action and smacked an RBI double to add to the lead and Aaron Fisher followed with a walk of his own to load the bases. Zack Strahan picked up an RBI with a free pass and Lake Leeker added a run with a sacrifice fly to center. Logan Daniels followed suit with a sacrifice fly for another run and Keegan Stone drew a walk before the Royals could get the final out. The Bobcat lead had grown to 28-2, heading to the sixth inning. Hall pitched around a hit batsman and a walk to keep the Royals off the board and the Bobcats came up in their final at bat. Hunter Lewis started the offense with a single to center and advanced on a wild pitch. Aaron Fisher ripped an RBI triple to center and Lewis scored to close out the Bobcat tallies. Jake Davis was handed the ball for the top of the seventh and a single, a walk, and a three-run homer bumped the Royal score to five. Davis recorded a strikeout of the next batter, and the Cat secured the 29-5 win. 

Pounding out 19 hits and six of them being home runs, the Bobcats were led by Ty Rush (HR, 2B) with three hits and four RBI’s. Spencer Greene (HR, HR, five RBI’s), Charlie Parker (HR, HR, four RBI’s), Chuck Hill, Rhett Hill (HR), Jake Leeker, and Logan Daniels all recorded two hits in the win. Caleb Johnson (2B), Hunter Lewis, Lance Strahan (2B), and Aaron Fisher (3B) each added a hit to the offensive effort as well. 

College of the Ozarks vs Ecclesia College – Game 2
Weston Whiteside got the start on the mound in game two and he set the Royals down in order in the opening frame. The Bobcats were looking to pick up where they left off in game one and Chuck Hill got the ball rolling with a single to left. Hill moved to second on a wild pitch then Spencer Greene added to his RBI total with a single to right that scored Hill. Rhett Hill followed with a walk and Ty Rush was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs, Jake Leeker delivered a single to score Greene and Hill and Ty Rush scored on the next pitch. Blake Hultgren singled but the final out was recorded, and the Bobcats would settle for a 4-0 lead after one. Whiteside used a pair of strikeouts to pitch around a single and an error and Ecclesia was kept off the board in the second. The Cats were on the prowl for more runs and Chuck Hill reached on an error to get things started. Caleb Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice as Hill was out at second and Spencer Greene reached on another Royals miscue to push a Bobcat run across the plate. Rhett Hill was hit by a pitch and Ty Rush walked to load the bases, setting up a Charlie Parker RBI single to left. The next batter was retired, and Whiteside had a 6-0 lead to work with. A Chuck Hill walk in the third, a Spencer Greene single in the fourth, a Jake Leeker walk in the fifth, and a Spencer Greene double in the sixth would be all the offense for the Bobcats and the Royals were held down by Whiteside through six. Things got a little shaky in the top of the seventh with a home run, a double, a walk and a pair of singles. The Royals plated four runs and Brody Baumann came on to close the door. A quick strikeout ended the threat, and the Bobcats took game two, 6-4. 

Spencer Greene (2B) led the offense with three hits and Chuck Hill, Charlie Parker, Jake Leeker, and Blake Hultgren added one hit each in the win. 

The Bobcats will now head to Chicago, Illinois for a weekend series against Saint Xavier University this Friday and Saturday.