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By: Josh Fuller

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The Columbus State University baseball team swept a Saturday doubleheader from Peach Belt Conference rival Young Harris Saturday. Both games took place at Zell B. Miller Field in Young Harris.

The Cougars (8-2, 3-0 PBC) took the opening game of the day 12-5 before having to rally in the nightcap. CSU scored eight runs in the final three innings to complete a 13-12 come from behind victory.

In the series, Columbus State senior Jackson Oliver moved into a 10^th place tie on the all-time hit list at CSU with 215 career hits. He also is now seventh all-time with 158 career runs scored.

Columbus State will have a busy upcoming week playing five games in six days. The Cougars will get things started with a Tuesday contest against Stillman at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Game One

Game one was all Columbus State as the Cougars raced out to a 9-1 lead after three full innings of play. Mike McClellan got the scoring started with a RBI double in the first before CSU put an eight spot on the board in the third.

The first six CSU batters reached base to begin the inning, including run-scoring hits by Christian Miller and Ryan Ihle. Things continued to unravel for the Mountain Lions as CSU pushed the score out to 6-0 following a throwing error on a infield single by Justin Evans.

Hunter Bowling made it a 7-0 game on a sacrifice fly while the final two runs of the inning scored on a wild pitch and another throwing error.

Young Harris would cut into the lead a little over the next two innings. Troy Kizer led the bottom of the third off with a double to right-center before he crossed the plate on a wild pitch. In the fourth, Young Harris looked to be putting together a big inning as the Mountain Lions put runners on second and third to begin the frame. However, Columbus State starter Brandon Koehler limited the damage to just two runs.   

CSU got one of those runs back in the fifth as McClellan drove in his second run of the day with a RBI single to center making it a 10-3 game.

Both teams scored a pair of runs in the seventh inning. In the top half of the inning, Tyler Fichter got on base with a leadoff single before moving to second on a wild pitch. From there, Oliver laced a single through the right side of the infield chasing home the junior. Oliver later scored in the inning on McClellan's fourth hit of the day.

YHC got their runs on back-to-back doubles to begin the frame and a bases loaded walk.

McClellan was a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate in game one driving in three for CSU. Miller was 2-for-6 with a double and two RBIs while Oliver was 1-for-4 with four runs.

Koehler (2-0) pitched well for the Cougars allowing five runs (four earned) in six-plus innings of work. He allowed nine hits while striking out three. Chaz Wilson and Jarrod Little combined to pitch one-hit ball over the final three innings of play.

Luke Miller was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Young Harris.

Cody Beck (0-1) was hit with the loss after not making it out of the third innings. He allowed seven runs (five earned) on seven hits.

Game Two

The nightcap was the complete opposite of the first game as Young Harris raced out of the gates early. The Mountain Lions scored six runs in the first two innings off of Cougar starter Albert Harless.

YHC scored a run in the bottom half of the first before plating five in the second. In the second, the first six batters reached base to start the frame, including three straight singles to load the bases.

However from there, CSU's defense failed Harless as back-to-back fielding errors scored a pair of runs to make it a 3-0 game. Sexton had the big blow in the inning with a single to right scoring two more and pushing YHC's lead to 5-0. Harless was able to recover getting the next three batters out, but a fielder's choice allowed another man to cross the plate for Young Harris.

Columbus State was able to cut the lead in half in the top half of the third. Fichter led the inning off with a single right back up the middle before Edwards legged out an infield single. With two runners on, Oliver gapped a triple into right-centerfield scoring the Cougar duo.

After a fly out, McClellan made it 6-3 with a RBI single up the middle.

In the fifth, CSU closed the gap to 6-5 thanks to one swing of the bat from Matt Nettles as the senior launched his fourth homer of the season over the right field wall scoring Oliver.

However, the Columbus State bullpen was unable to have a shutdown inning as Young Harris scored three in its half of the fifth. Two straight singles began the frame before Miller hit a three-run shot to push the lead back out to 9-5.

Things didn't get better from there as Young Harris extended its lead to 12-5 after putting another three spot on the board in the seventh. Brett Westmoreland had a two-run double in the frame while Zach Beggs drove his teammate in with a single of his own.

After the Cougars scored a run in the seventh on an Ihle single, the comeback was on. Down 12-6 entering the eighth, CSU scored five runs to cut the deficit down to a single run for the second time. Fichter got things started with a double before scoring during the next at-bat thanks to two wild pitches.

A walk, infield single and a hit batter loaded the bases for McClellan, who delivered a sacrifice fly into centerfield to make it a 12-8 game. Chris Daniel followed with a RBI single chasing YHC reliever Bryan Gibeau from the game.

Grant Berry made it a 12-10 game driving in a run on a grounder before another wild pitch helped CSU score its 11^th run of the game.

Needing at least one run to force extras, Columbus State scored two to go ahead 13-12 in the ninth. Fichter once again led the inning off reaching base on a walk before swiping second with one out. Following a strikeout, CSU was down to its final out before Nettles delivered in the clutch with the game-tying single.

With McClellan at the plate, Nettles advanced to second on a wild pitch. The wild pitch proved to be costly as McClellan put the Cougars on top with a single.

Looking to finish off his first collegiate victory, Kolton Ingram pitched a perfect ninth to complete the comeback win.

Six Columbus State hitters had at two hits with Nettles and McClellan leading the way. Nettles finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a homer. McClellan was 2-for-5 and drove in three more runs.

Ihle finished the game 2-for-4 upping his hitting streak to 10 games. Edwards was 1-for-4 increasing his streak to nine.

Luke Porter, Shawn Thomas and Ingram combined to keep Young Harris hitless over the final 3.1 innings. Thomas threw a hitless inning while Ingram tossed two perfect frames.

For YHC, Westmoreland was 2-for-4 with four RBIs while Miller was 3-for-5 with three RBIs of his own.

Michael Livingston got the start for Young Harris and pitched decent. He allowed five runs in six innings of work with five strikeouts. Dylan Gibeau took the loss after allowing the final two runs of the game.