The Tigers dented the scoreboard in every inning except the first in game one as they banged out 12 hits and took advantage of a pair of Cougar miscues to post the lopsided win.
The home team put a pair of runs on the board in the second as Corey Willig singled in a run and then added three more in the third on only two hits a walk, a dropped popup and a pair of hit batsmen.
The Cougars scratched out their only two runs in the top of the third on back to back RBI singles from Grant Zawadzki and Trevor Burgess to momentarily tie the game at 2-2.
The Tigers tacked on a run in the fourth to push their lead to 6-2 and then quickly ended game one in the bottom of the fifth with a six-run outburst. Three walks and five base hits did most of the damage as Zach Zarzour and Tyler Roach plated a run with a double each while Gabe Herman and Mark Strong singled in a run apiece to cap the rally.
Patrick Merkling tossed four plus innings to pick up the win for the Tigers while Ross Spurgeon took the loss for the Cougars. Ryan Mutchnick collected two of the six Cougar hits.
Mutchnick and Gray Hutchinson found a patch of grass in short right field and just inside the line to their liking to start game two as both players served an RBI single to the same spot for a 2-0 Cleveland State lead.
The Cougars pushed their lead to 3-0 in the second as they loaded the bases for Burgess who drew a free pass and tacked on another run in the third on a grounder to shortstop by Cameron Brewster.
Chattanooga State plated a pair of runs in each of the second and third frames on a pair of grounders, a double by Dylan Coleman and a single from Roach to tie the game at 4-4.
Zawadzki single to start a Cleveland State rally in the sixth, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by and scored on a wild pitch to give the Cougars a 5-4 lead.
The Cougars picked a little bit of insurance in the top of the seventh with three big runs. Another single from Mutchnick followed by base knock from Hutchinson and a hit batter loaded the bases to start the inning. Pinch hitter, Joe Cardio pushed a run across by drawing a walk while two more runs crossed on a double play and a Tiger miscue for an 8-4 Cougar lead.
That would all the run support that Scott Spears would need as he finished what he started to go the distance to get the win for the Cougars (13-9, 4-1). Max Aeschlimann started for the Tigers (18-3, 4-1) while Tripp White took the loss.
The teams will meet on Sunday at 1:00 in the third game of the series.
