The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team earned a split with Miles Community College on Monday to wrap up the 4-game series with the Pioneers.
                The first game saw the Cougars score 10 fifth-inning runs to capture a 14-9 win. The second game saw Miles score in all five innings in posting a 19-9 win in five innings.
                WNCC will be back at home this weekend when they host Dawson Community College on Saturday and Sunday.
                The first game was one where the Cougars trailed after four innings 7-4. WNCC scored one in the first as Vaughn Wilson scored on a sacrifice fly by Jin Kobayakawa for the 1-0 lead.
                Miles came back with a run in the second and two in the third for a 3-1 lead. WNCC immediately rebounded with three in the bottom of the third for a 4-3 lead. Austin Cooper and Matt Levesque led off with singles. WNCC loaded the bases as Vaughn Wilson hit a fielder’s choice ball where all the runners were safe. Austin Cooper scored on a Cooper Vaughn sacrifice fly. Levesque came home on a stolen base to tie the game. Catcher Gladysh singled in Vaughn Cooper for the 4-2 lead.
                It was short-lived as Miles plated four runs in the fourth inning to lead 7-3. It stayed that way until the fifth when the Cougars would put up a 10 spot on six hits. The big hit in the inning was a Landon Lockwood 3-run home run to put WNCC up 8-7 with one out. The Cougars were not done as they loaded the bases. With two outs, Vaughn Wilson blasted a double to score three runs for the 11-7 lead. Vaughn Wilson made it 12-7 when he scored on his brother’s Cooper Wilson hit. Then Gladysh plated two more runs for the 14-7 lead.
                Miles added two in the sixth, but couldn’t get any closer as Matthew Hazzard came in relive of Rocco Harmon to get the save with seven strikeouts and allowing just two runs and three hits. Alex Renfrow tossed the seventh and retired all three batters he faced.
                Vaughn Wilson had three hits in the win with two doubles, three RBIs and four runs scored. Kobayakawa, Gladysh, and Lockwood all had two hits. Lockwood had a home runs with three RBIs, while Gladysh had a double with four RBIs.
                The second game was one where the Cougars got behind in the first inning when Miles scored four times. WNCC cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the frame with two runs when Ren Soto blasted a solo home run and then Kensei Oikawa scored on a 2-out bases loaded walk. WNCC, however, left the bases juiced.
                Miles came back with two in the second and eight runs in the third for a 14-2 lead. WNCC scored one in the third on a lead-off home run by Cooper Wilson.
                After Miles added three more in the fourth to make it 17-3, the Cougars plated just one in the bottom of the fourth Garrison Burns scored on a sacrifice fly by Oikawa.
                Miles followed that with two in the fifth for a 19-4 lead. WNCC had one last opportunity to extend the game when they scored five in the fifth. Gladysh led off with a triple and score on a double by Vaughn Wilson. Burns plated two more runs with a double. One batter later, Burns scores on a Cooper double. Cooper would later score on a wild pitch and that was all WNCC could muster as they came up one run short of extending the game beyond the 10-run rule.
                Cooper led the way with two hits, both doubles. Burns had a double with two RBIs and two runs scored.
 
Game 1
Miles                    012 402 0 – 9 9 4
WNCC                103 0(10)0 x – 14 13 2
WP – Matthew Hazzard.
2B – Vaughn Wilson 2, Jin Kobayakawa, Catcher Gladysh.
HR – Landon Lockwood.
 
Game 2
Miles                    428 32 – 19 14 1
WNCC                201 15 – 9 9 4
LP – Zane Henrickx.
2B – Austin Cooper 2, Kensei Oikawa, Vaughn Wilson, Garrison Burns.
3B – Catcher Gladysh.
HR – Ren Soto, Cooper Wilson.