COLUMBUS - The Columbus State university baseball team protects home field and defeats the Shorter Hawks 10-5 on Tuesday, April 18. With the win, Columbus State is on a three game win streak and is now 28-12 on the season and 14-10 PBC. Shorter falls to 22-18 and 14-12 GSC.

The Cougars put 10 or more runs on the board for the third game in a row and scored in six out of eight innings in which they hit. Shorter got on the board first as they had three consecutive hits in the top half of the second to jump out to a 2-0 lead. CSU tied the game up in the bottom half off a Win Johns two run shot over the wall in left. Johns is now batting .300 on the season with seven home runs and 25 RBI's.

The Hawks regained the lead in the third inning with a home run and a sac-fly. The Cougars responded with a home run off the bat of Isaac Bouton. Bouton has eight homers on the year. Connor Kirley tied the game up 4-4 in the fifth inning with a sac-fly to score Matthew McDade. CSU took the lead in the sixth with bases loaded, Ian King singled to left field to score two to make it a 6-4 ballgame. They got insurance in the seventh with a Steven Minter double off the top of the left field wall which got away from the left field and it allowed Isaiah Hernandez to score. Trace Twardoski hit a pinch-hit sac-fly a batter after. 

The Cougars used five pitchers in relief and they combined for 6.1 innings pitched, no earned runs, and two strike outs. Cole English earned his second win of the season as he had two innings in relief where no one reached base while he struck out one.

UP NEXT:
Columbus State will travel to Bluftton, Sc. to take on the USC Beaufort Sandsharks in their first matchup in history. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Richard Gray Baseball Complex.