BEATRICE – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team started slow but battled back to earn an Empire Conference split with Southeast Community College in Beatrice Thursday afternoon.
WNCC fell behind 6-0 through four innings and then a late rally came up short as Southeast earned the 6-5 win. The second game was a little bit different as WNCC plated 16 runs and got home runs from Cooper Wilson and Harrison Hart to earn the 16-15 win.
WNCC moves to 19-26 overall and 11-7 in conference play. Southeast drops to 18-22 overall and 9-9 in conference. The two teams will wrap up the four-game series Friday with another doubleheader.
The first game saw the Cougars get a slow start, trailing 6-0 through four innings WNCC began its comeback in the fifth with four runs. Vaughn Wilson opened the inning with a double, followed by a walk to Dakota Alber. Gladysh doubled to score one run. Alber later scored on a balk, and two additional runs crossed on passed balls to make it 6-4.
The Cougars loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh and scored once more on a balk call but couldn't get a hit to score anymore runs.
Wilson and Will Harbison each had two hits in the contest, while Gladysh scored two runs.
The second game was the opposite of the opener, as WNCC's offense erupted for 11 hits. Wilson and Hart each had three hits. Hart had a double, home run, and six RBIs in the game where WNCC scored 16 runs.
WNCC never trailed in the contest, though Southeast tied the game at 6-6 in the fifth.
The Cougars scored six runs in the second inning to take a 6-0 lead, doing so on two singles, a double, and three walks. Daniel Chavez delivered an RBI single to make it 3-0, and Hart followed with a two-run double for the 6-0 advantage.
Southeast scored twice in the second, once in the third, and three times in the fifth to tie the contest. WNCC responded immediately with six runs in the sixth for a 12-6 lead. Jude Russell reached on an error to start the inning, followed by a two-run home run from Cooper Wilson. Gladysh singled home Ty Beutner to make it 9-6, and Hart capped the inning with a three-run home run.
Southeast answered with three runs to cut the lead to 12-9. WNCC added three more in the eighth for a 15-9 lead, with Hart driving in another run on a single.
The Bobcats plated one in the bottom of the eighth, but WNCC added a key insurance run in the ninth when Gladysh's sacrifice fly scored Beutner for a 16-10 lead.
That run proved crucial as Southeast mounted a ninth-inning comeback, scoring five runs on six free passes from walks and hit batters. All five runs came without a hit, aided by errors and wild pitches, but Nelson Martinez settled in and recorded a strikeout for the final out to secure the win.
Game 1
WNCC 000 040 1 – 5 6 1
Southeast 105 000 x – 6 6 1
LP – Jack McCrea.
2B – Catcher Gladysh, Vaughn Wilson.
Game 2
WNCC 060 006 031 – 16 11 5
Southeast 021 033 015 – 15 6 2
WP – Javier Pena.
2B – Harrison Hart.
HR – Cooper Wilson, Harrison Hart.