The Logan County Cougars built a 9-1 lead midway through the third inning and then held on for a 10-6 road win over Christian County, which came into the game with 17 wins, the same total as the Cougars.
Coach Ethan Meguiar’s team banged out 10 hits, drew 4 walks and were hit by a couple of pitches. The Colonels picked up 8 hits and 5 walks off Logan hurlers Joe Holliday and Ryan Basham.
Caleb Bruner and Dustin Cartas both doubled among their two hits. Bruner drove in two runs as did Cody Hunt, who singled twice. Gage Hales doubled while Matt Harper, Basham and Holliday each got a hit. Bruner scored three runs, Cartas two, and Hales, Hunt, Basham, Jacob Wood and Michael Riley one each.
The double was the 11th of the season for Cartas, who has 40 hits, including 5 homers. The Murray State signee is batting .507 with a .589 on-base percentage. Harper is hitting .359 with a .489 on-base mark while Jacob Wood is batting .353 with a .478 on-base average and Ian Woodall is hitting .310 with a .400 on-base.
Bruner has a 5-2 pitching record with a sparkling 0.83 earned run average. Hunter Britt has a 4-1 record with a .2.08 ERA, Blake Gettings 3-0 with a 1.35 and Basham 3-1 with a .227.
The first three batters of the game scored for the Cougars. Hales and Bruner each doubled, Cartas and Harper walked, and Ian Woodall and Basham were hit by pitches.
Five more runs scored in the third inning. Hunt began it with a one-out single. Basham, Holliday, Woodall, Bruner and Cartas each singled. Riley scored as a courtesy runner.
Holliday pitched into the fourth inning but gave up three walks and a hit before Basham came on to get the final two outs of the inning. Basham worked the final three innings, giving up just one more run.
Nile Shemwell doubled and singled for the Colonels and Bryan Chilton had a pair of hits. Chance Carner was the starting pitcher for Christian County, but Logan Patterson was the reliever who held them to a single run in the late going.
Coach Grayson Crawford’s Colonels have a doubleheader scheduled Friday. They will entertain Caldwell County at 5:30, followed by Coach Greg Shelton’s Russellville Panthers at 7:30. The Panthers won 4-3 in eight innings Thursday at Barren County.
The Cougars, who improved their record to 18-7, will entertain Muhlenberg County at 5:30 Friday before heading to Bowling Green for a 6 p.m. contest Saturday.