Baseball Splits Doubleheader on Opening Day Against Mount Vernon Nazarene

(Westfield, IN)-- After two series were cancelled due to the weather or field conditions, the Cleary Cougar Baseball team finally had their opening day, as they played a doubleheader against the Cougars of Mount Vernon Nazarene.

In Game 1:  MVNU would hit a two-out solo home run to open the scoring in the first inning, but Cleary would answer with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  Brendan Seman would hit a lead-off double, and was advanced to third on a groundout by Conner Boone.  Seman would score one batter later on an RBI groundout by Brodie Mackay to tie the game at 1-1.  Cleary would take control of the game in the bottom of the third, when they scored four runs, three of them with two outs.  Braylon Hughes would hit a leadoff single, followed by a walk from Austin Vincent to put two runners on.  Brendan Seman would advance both runners on a "swinging bunt" to put two runners in scoring position with one out.  A Conner Boone safety squeeze would score Braylen Hughes to give the Cougars the lead.  After Brodie Mackay drew a walk, Joey Parinello singled to score Austin Vincent from third base.  The next batter, Ryan Rose, would also single to score Brodie Mackay, and gave Cleary a 4-1 lead.  Pinch-runner Keegan Hutchinson would score on a wild pitch to make it a 5-1 Cleary lead.  That cushion would be enough, as Brett Parris cruised through the rest of his season debut, and Hector Montilla threw two innings in relief to give Cleary a 5-2 victory.

Brett Parris would earn the win, allowing 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 6 batters.  Cleary had hits from Brendan Seman, Joey Parinello, Ryan Rose, and Braylon Hughes in the game.

In Game 2:  Like game one, MVNU would once again hit a first inning home run to take an early lead.  The lead would grow to 4-0 in the top of the fourth when Mount Vernon scored three more runs.  Cleary would get on the board in the bottom half of the fourth after Ryan Rose hit a lead-off ground-rule double to get on base.  After Rose advanced to third on a wild pitch, Landen Kempainen would hit a sacrifice fly to score Rose, and made the score 4-1.  MVNU would regain the four run cushion in the top half of the fifth, but Cleary would answer right back in the bottom of the fifth.  Austin Vincent would hit a leadoff double, and advanced to third on a flyout by Brendan Seman.  A sacrifice fly by Conner Boone would score Vincent, getting Cleary back within three runs.  Unfortunately, that would be as close as they Cougars would come, as MVNU added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth, allowing them to take game two by a 7-2 score.

Ryan Lieng would suffer the loss on the mound, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits while striking out 6 batters.  Ryan Rose would go 2/3 at the plate, while Conner Boone, Joey Parinello, Brice Wesley, and Austin Vincent each added one hit apiece.

Cleary opens the season with a 1-1 record, and will return to action on Tuesday, February 17, when they play another doubleheader against Mount Vernon Nazarene.  The action will get underway at Grand Park beginning at 12:00 PM.