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By: Josh Fuller

COLUMBUS – The 19^th-ranked Columbus State University baseball team got the brooms out on Sunday capping off a three-game sweep of longtime rivals Armstrong State. The series took place at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field.
 
The Cougars (36-10, 21-6 PBC) rolled to a 12-2 victory in game one on Sunday before taking the nightcap 13-8 to increase their winning streak to 14 games. CSU's magic number to win the PBC regular season title outright is now two.
 
"It's hard not to talk about how our lineup is doing, but it was very crucial that Albert Harless and Kyle Peals threw well for us in the first game today," said head coach Greg Appleton. "They made things a lot easier for us in game two eating all nine innings between them.
 
"Our offense is clicking right now and it all starts with a good disciplined approach at the plate."
 
Columbus State will play its final midweek game of the year on Wednesday, April 27 against Point. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. in West Point, Ga.
 
Game One
 
The Cougars came out of the gates hot scoring a pair of runs in each of the first three innings. Jackson Oliver and Ryan Ihle began the first inning with back-to-back singles and Mike McClellan cashed in on the RBI chance skying a sacrifice fly to right to open the game's scoring.
 
With two outs and Ihle still in scoring position, Blake Edwards singled right back up the middle to make it a 2-0 game.
 
It wasn't any better for Armstrong in the second after Justin Evans was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and preceded to steal second. Tyler Fichter made the steal count, singling through the right side of infield to make it a 3-0 score. Later in the inning, Oliver chased Fichter home with a single to right.
 
Columbus State used the long ball in the third as Christian Miller hit a one-out bomb to left field to add to the lead. After an Edwards infield single, two walks loaded the bases before Fichter drew a 3-2 walk to force home another run.
 
Armstrong (15-29, 6-24) got its two runs in the fifth after three consecutive two-out hits.
 
The Cougars exploded in the eighth scoring six to double its run output. With the bases loaded, Oliver had a bases clearing double to push the score to 9-2 while Ihle followed with a single to chase home Oliver. McClellan immediately followed with a long two-run shot over the left-centerfield wall to make it a 12-2 game.
 
Oliver had a three-hit game going 3-for-5 with four RBIs while McClellan was 2-for-4 with three driven in. Ihle and Edwards each went 2-for-5 with Fichter scoring twice and driving home two as well.
 
Harless improved to 5-2 after tossing six innings of two-run ball. He allowed six hits while striking out four. Peals recorded his first save of the year after throwing three shutout innings.
 
Game Two
 
The Cougar offense continued rolling into game two scoring in seven of the eight innings CSU hit in. In the bottom of the first, CSU put a four spot on the board. Matt Nettles had a RBI single before Edwards kept a ball fair down the right field line for a double that drove in another to put the Cougars up 2-0. Evans drove in the third run of the inning with a single of his own before the final run crossed via a wild pitch.
 
Armstrong battled back though in the second making it a 4-3 game. Berry Aldridge hit a solo homer to lead things off while Cody Sherlin and Chandler Corley had back-to-back RBI singles in the inning.
 
After the Cougars got one of the runs back in the bottom of the second thanks to an Edwards single, the Pirates were able to push two more across to tie the game at six after two and a half innings. Aldridge had a double in the inning to put two in scoring position while Kendrick Thompson cashed in on the run-scoring opportunity blooping a single in front of Oliver in right to chase home both runners.
 
The score would remain tied until the bottom of the fourth when the Cougars put another crooked number on the board. Ihle began the inning with a double, but was still standing on second after back-to-back outs. However, Edwards once again came away with the RBI hit singling to left field to allow Ihle to cross the plate. Chris Daniel followed with a deep double to the centerfield wall that made it a 7-5 game.
 
The two sides exchanged single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Hunter Bowling drove in the runs in the sixth and seventh with a single and a bases loaded walk, respectively. Oliver did all the damage by himself in the eighth with a towering homer to right-centerfield to put the Cougars up 13-8.
 
Edwards was 4-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs. McClellan added three more hits and drove in three as well. Ihle scored three runs with a double.
 
Caleb Kutsche started the game but lasted just two innings allowing four runs. Jacob Buccucci (2-0) earned the win after a great relief appearance. The senior tossed four innings allowing just two runs while punching out four.