Late Thursday afternoon, on a cold misty day at Joe Hunter Field, the Coastal Bend Cougars faced against NJCAA Division I #3 San Jacinto Gators for a nine inning ball game.
The Cougars started Ruben Sepulveda to pitch the game against the Gators. Sepulveda pitched eight and third of an inning, allowing only four runs, which three counted as earned runs. He also rung up four San Jacinto players for strikeouts while not walking a single Gator, during his outing. Tyler Dick entered the game during the ninth inning with only one out. After allowing one hit for a homerun, Dick settled down and was able to pop-up the next two batters to end the game.
The Cougars offense came alive, bringing in 10 runs off 11 hits that also included five bases on balls. Sepulveda was also named the Designated Hitter for Coastal Bend, hitting two Doubles while collecting two RBI's. Luis Castellanos also hit a double bringing in two runs. Jordan Gochenour hit a double bringing in another Cougar run on the night. Joel Rodriguez brought in a run off a single, while also advancing into scoring position. Kyler Bumstead nabbed an RBI while getting on base with a bases loaded walk.
Coastal Bend went on to beat San Jacinto by a final score of five to ten. This win marks the first time in school history that Coastal Bend has beaten San Jacinto College in baseball. The Cougars are now nine and nine on the season. Head Coach, Brian Bauerle stated "Ruben Sepulveda did an outstanding job for us, attacked the zone early and often and kept San Jac hitters off balance. A lot of credit goes out to the team for staying locked in and focused for nine innings against a great program in San Jacinto College. We've all worked tremendously hard and put in a lot of effort for the baseball program, it seems to be paying off. This was a significant win for our school and ball club."
Coastal Bend will host Blinn College on Tuesday, February 27th for a double header. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM at Joe Hunter Field.