The Cougars have had a good start to the season so far, going 4-2 in their first six games.
Their first big test came this week when they played the third best team in the NAIA, Georgia Gwinnett College, three times. To place even more on Saint Xavier’s plate, all three games were played at Georgia Gwinnett College.
SXU’s starting pitcher in the first game was junior Jared Jones. The Cougars got off to a hot start, with shortstop Mark Martin hitting a RBI single to center field, which scored a run and put Saint Xavier up 1-0.
The Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies fired right back and scored seven runs in the next four innings, putting them up 7-1.
SXU started a comeback in the eighth inning, scoring three times to cut the Grizzlies lead down to just three runs. However, Georgia Gwinnett stopped any hopes of a SXU comeback by scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth, extending their lead to eight. The Cougars scored a run in the top of the ninth, but it was not enough and the Grizzlies won 12-5. SXU fell to 4-3 with a loss, while the Grizzlies improved to 12-4 with the victory.
The second game between these two teams was completely dominated by Georgia Gwinnett. SXU starting pitcher Anthony Chimera was completely rocked by the Grizzlies hitters, allowing six runs before he was replaced after only pitching 1 1/2 innings.
David Strom was called in to replace him, but he didn’t fare much better and allowed four runs in five at-bats and was pulled before recording a single out. SXU eventually got out of the inning, coming out of it being down 1-10. The Grizzlies completely shut down the Cougars for the rest of the game, not allowing a single run and even scoring one in the bottom of the seventh. The game ended with the Grizzlies winning 11-1.
The final game of the series took place on March 3rd. In another game were the Cougars were completely dominated, Georgia Gwinnett eventually won 15-5 after the game was called after the seventh innings.
Georgia Gwinnett improved from 11-4 to 14-4 with these wins. SXU lost all three games of the series and fell to 4-5 after the three loses.
Saint Xavier has a busy week next week, playing a total of seven games. The Cougars start next week by participating in the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational in Kissimmee and Winter Haven, Florida.
In the first two games of the tournament, the Cougars play Cornerstone University twice. The next day, the Cougars play Rochester College twice to wrap up the quick tournament.
After the tournament, SXU will travel to Lakeland, Florida to face the number one ranked team in the NAIA, Southeastern University, three times. Saint Xavier did not have a great week, being dominated by the third best team in the country three times.
However, the Cougars can definitely rebound with a strong performance in the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational and against Southeastern University.
Chris Leonchik
Sports Editor
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