Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WEST LIBERTY, Wv. - Baseball was back in action today as they traveled to neutral site West Liberty University. There, the Cougars were the away team as they played the Bethany Bison. The Bison are unable to use their filed due to flooding so with an home event, the Bison will use nearby facilities the rest of the season. Chatham swept Bethany 11-5 and 13-2 (7 innings).

In game one, the Cougars got majority of their runs in chunks. In the second, Chatham got the scoring started with three runs. A couple of RBI singles from Freshman Brandon Bell and Sophomore Angelo DeLeonardis got the Cougars out to an early 3-0 lead. The Bison did an excellent job responding in the bottom half of the inning with two runs of their own. Bell's RBI single in the next inning would extend the Cougar lead 4-2. Chatham would then add to the lead with three runs in the fourth. The Bison had some defensive miscues and the Cougars made them pay for it. After reaching on an error and scoring DeLeonardis, Senior Benny Dottle came around to score on a Senior Jake Bredl double down the left field line. Bredl would then come home on a sac fly by designated hitter Sophomore Caleb Jones. Jones wasn't done as in the sixth, he roped a double down the right field line. In the same inning, Sophomore Tommy Schubert's long at-bat turned into a two-run double to left center. At th end of the sixth, the Cougars led 11-2. Bethany was able to score two in the eighth and one in the ninth as it made the game one final 11-5, in favor of the Cougars.

Junior Carter Beneigh improves to 4-3 on the season with the victory in game one. Beneigh went six solid innings, scattered seven hits, gave up two runs, and had five strikeouts. With one more win, Beneigh has the chance to tie former Cougar Austin Andonisio for most wins in a single season in program history (5). 

The Cougars offense collected 13 total hits. Five hitters had at least two hits: Senior Frankie DeLuca, Brandon Bell, Tommy Schubert, Jake Bredl, and Angelo DeLeonardis.

In game two, the Cougars again got an early lead and never looked back. This time Chatham got two runs in the opening frame. DeLeonardis walked to get things started and Dottle followed it up with a single. Jones hit another sac fly, bringing home DeLeonardis and Dottle was able to score due to an error by Bethany. Just like game one, Bethany got their first two runs in the third inning to tie things up at 2-2. The tie wouldn't last long though as Chatham would go on to score at least two runs from the fourth to seventh inning. After leading off the fourth with a double, Jake Bredl would score when Sophomore Peter Tadic hit his fourth homer of 2024 to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead after four. In the following inning, Chatham scored two more after two Bison errors and a passed ball. Going into the sixth with a 6-2 lead, Chatham received three straight singles to start inning from Junior Tyler Cote, Tommy Schubert, and Brandon Bell. They would all come around to score later in the inning. In the seventh, the Cougars would score four to put the mercy rule into effect. Bethany was unable to score two runs to keep the game going as the final in game two was 13-2 Chatham. 

Sophomore Nick Martin returned from injury as he threw five great innings. Martin gave up four hits, two runs (0 earned), six walks and six strikeouts. Freshman Gianni Cantini threw the final two innings. Cantini did not allow a hit, walked two and had three strikeouts. 

Chatham added 12 more hits in game two. This time, four Cougars had at least two hits. Benny Dottle (3-5, 3 RBI), Jake Bredl (2-5), Brandon Bell (2-4), and Tyler Cote (2-3, 2 RBI). 

After a much needed sweep, Baseball improves to 12-15 (4-7) overall. They will travel to Steubenville, OH on Saturday to play two road games vs the Franciscan University Barons. The games are slated for 1 & 4 PM starts.