The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team dropped a pair of Empire Conference contests to Southeast Community College on Friday at Cleveland Field.
                The first game saw the Cougars out-hit Southeast, but the Bobcats won the contest 9-3 with four runs in the sixth.
                The second game saw Southeast score five early runs and then add eight runs in the eighth inning to earn the 16-6 win.
                Both teams will wrap up the 4-game series on Saturday with the first pitch slated for noon at Cleveland Field.
                The second game, a 9-inning contest, was a battle through seven innings. Southeast opened the second contest by scoring four times in the first inning and all the runs came with two outs, including a 2-run home run by Brady Hunt. The Bobcats added another run in the second to take a 5-0 lead.
                After that, the Cougar defense held Southeast scoreless for the next five innings. In the meantime, the Cougars offense started to get baserunners on base. The fourth inning was when the Cougars broke through with two runs. Cooper Wilson led off with a double and then Kensei Oikwawa blasted a 2-out home run to make it 5-2. The Cougars followed the home run with singles by Cooper Buress and Will Harbison, but the two were left on base.
                The Cougars made it a 5-3 game with a run in the sixth when Landon Lockwood singled followed by a Burgess single. With two outs Oikawa, who reached on a fielders choice, scored on a fielding error. WNCC couldn’t get the tying runs home.
                Noone scored in the seventh and that was when Southeast put the game away with eight runs in the eighth inning on five hits, including a 3-run home run off the bat of Hunt for his second dinger of the game. Southeast led 13-3.
                Needing a run to keep the game going, WNCC answered in the bottom of the frame. Jin Kobayakawa led off with a double and scored on a Lockwood single. Lockwood came around to score on a Burgess double to make it 13-5. Once again, had two runners on base and couldn’t get the two runners in.
                Southeast added three more runs in the ninth as Jack Hogan led off with a home run and the Bobcats added two more runs to lead 16-5. WNCC tried a last-inning comeback as Vaughn and Cooper Wilson led off with singles. Vaughn Wilson would later score on a balk, but that was all WNCC could get.
                WNCC was outhit in the contest 16-13 with Burgess leading the way with three hits with a double. Lockwood also had three hits with a double, a run scored and an RBI. Cooper Wilson had two hits in the contest.
                Julian Garza took the loss in the circle, going six innings in scattering five hits, allowing five runs and striking out six. Cameryn Spence and Cameron Meyer followed as Spence allowed two hits, six runs and struck out one, while Meyer allowed seven hits, five runs and struck out two.
                The first game was a battle as WNCC allowed just three early runs and the three runs that crossed the plate were all runners that earned walks and scored on a single as Southeast led 3-0 after two innings.
                Southeast plated two more runs in the fifth to make it 5-0. WNCC made a comeback in the fifth as Catcher Gladysh and Calab Caciari led off with singles. WNCC loaded the bases after Tucker Deal reached base on an infield single. Gladysh scored the first run on a wild pitch and then Matt Levesque singles in two more to make it 5-3.
                Southeast followed that with a 4-run sixth inning on just one hit with a walk, error and a hits-batsman to make it 9-3.
                Levesque led the way with three hits, including a double and two RBIs.
                Clayden Brandon started on the mound and went five innings in scattering five hits, eight runs while walking four and striking out six. Austin Neeley tossed the final two innings in allowing just one run and striking out three.
 
Game 1
Southeast        120 024 0 – 9 5 1
WNCC                000 030 0 – 3 8 1
LP – Clayden Brandon.
2B – Matt Levesque.
 
Game 2
Southeast        410 000 083 – 16 16 2
WNCC                000 201 021 – 6 13 2
LP – Julian Garza.
2B – Cooper Wilson, Jin Kobayakawa, Landon Lockwood, Cooper Burgess.
HR – Kensei Oikawa.