Cougars Claw Past Hawks in Thrilling Doubleheader Sweep  

Frederick Community College Cougars baseball continued its dominance on the diamond, grinding out two hard-fought victories over Hagerstown Community College Hawks in a dramatic doubleheader sweep. With the wins, the Cougars improved to 26-4 overall and 14-2 in Region 20 DII play.

Game one saw an early power surge from the Cougars, as Cole Swinimer and Luis Perez Alfaro both launched home runs in the first inning to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead. A back-and-forth battle ensued, with the Hawks taking a 6-5 lead in the fourth thanks to aggressive baserunning and timely hitting. However, the Cougars refused to back down, mounting a seventh-inning rally that saw them capitalize on a pair of passed balls and an error to walk it off with an 8-7 victory. Hunter Barnes earned the win in relief, striking out five over four innings while allowing just two earned runs. Perez Alfaro led the offense with a three-hit, three-RBI performance.  

In game two, pitching stole the spotlight as starter Adam Horst kept the Hawks in check with 4.2 scoreless innings, despite an error-filled fifth that put Hagerstown up 3-0. The Cougars erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth. Swinimer's two-run double jump-started the offense, followed by Jacob Downey's clutch two-run single to give FCC the lead. William Gisriel then delivered the knockout punch with an RBI triple before Luis Perez Alfaro capped the rally with a sacrifice fly. Matthew Koeneke shut the door over the final two innings to secure the 6-3 win.  

The Cougars now turn their attention to a road matchup at Garrett College on Saturday, April 5, with the doubleheader set to begin at 1 PM.