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By: Stephen Williams

ALBANY, Ga. – A 24-hit attack led the Columbus State University baseball team to a 19-1 victory at Albany State on Wednesday. The game was played at Golden Ram Park in Albany, Ga.
 
Columbus State is now 27-10 overall after its fifth straight win. The Cougars have 13 games remaining in the regular season, 12 of which will be in Peach Belt Conference action.
 
"It was good to see our bats get rolling early," head coach Greg Appleton said. "We came out and took care of business right from the start and gave Luke [Porter] plenty of confidence on the mound."
 
Columbus State needed just three batters to put its first runs on the board. Ryan Ihle jumpstarted the offense with a one-out bunt single and Mike McClellan followed with his 11^th homer of the season. After Christian Miller singled, Blake Edwards quickly made it 4-0 with his fifth long ball of the year.
 
A hit by pitch chased the Albany State (9-28) starting pitcher from the game, but the Cougars were just getting started.
 
Following a groundout, six straight Cougars reached base as six more runs crossed the plate. CSU had just two more hits in the inning as the Golden Rams committed three errors and walked a pair. Ihle doubled home two in his second at-bat of the inning and Miller grabbed his second hit as well to cap the 10-run first.
 
Albany State got its only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning against Luke Porter, but the Cougars quickly made up for it.
 
In the second, freshman Grant Berry hit his first collegiate home run to extend the CSU lead to 12-1. Fellow freshman Justin Evans then doubled home a run in the third to add on.
 
One inning later, McClellan tallied another pair of RBIs with a single that scored Jackson Oliver and Ihle. McClellan then picked up another run-scoring hit in the fifth after which Miller did the same.
 
Columbus State's final tally came in the eighth on an Ihle sacrifice fly.
 
Eight different Cougars had at least two hits in the game, led by Ihle's and McClellan's 4-for-5 nights. Berry, Edwards and Miller each had three knocks. McClellan drove home a team-high five runs on the night.
 
The offense would be more than enough for Porter (4-0), who had a strong showing. The junior allowed just one run on four hits over five innings of work. Porter struck out six in the win. Kyle Peals, Shawn Thomas, Cody Mimbs and Juan Montana each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the game.
 
Columbus State returns to conference action this weekend with a three-game series against Montevallo. First pitch Friday night is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be Little League Night at Burger King Stadium.