Cougars face tough competition on spring trip

Cediel, Patten receive Crossroads League honors

Strong offense and consistent pitching led the way for the Mount Vernon Nazarene University baseball team as the Cougars opened spring play this month.

The team continued their season with 12 games over spring break in Florida, then opened the season at home this week against Cleary University.

The Cougars faced tough opponents in Florida and came out of the trip winning six out of their 12 games. They recorded two big wins in Tuesday’s double header, defeating Cleary 10-0 and 9-1.

The spring trip was highlighted by a close match-up against (6) Davenport which resulted in a 2-1 loss for the Cougars, a 9-4 win over Cleary and a 3-2 walk-off win over Saint Ambrose University.

So far this year— including statistics from a four-game fall season— freshman Yanni Patten is leading the Cougars in offense with an impressive .500 batting average. Patten also has a team-leading 14 RBI.

Patten received Crossroads League Player of the Week honors as he recorded at least one hit in every game over the trip to Florida. Following Patten is junior Jacob Chrysler, who is hitting .390.

Others chipping in big offensively include freshman Aaron Saal (.356), senior Efrain Montero (.365, 11 RBI), sophomore Drew Ritchey (.344) and freshman Christian Bacon (.286).

Pacing the Cougars on the mound are senior pitchers Lucas Daugherty, who boasts an ERA of 1.296, and Roberto Cediel, who was selected as the Crossroads League Pitcher of the Week for his two performances in Florida.

On the trip, Cediel struck out 12 batters and posted an ERA of 1.20. He also pitched an eight-inning complete game in the Cougars’ 3-2 win over Saint Xavier.

Freshman Trenton Wood also has pitched well for the Cougars with an ERA of 2.55 over 17.2 innings pitched.

The Cougars will be back in action Thursday at Huntington University.