HUNTINGBURG, Ind. - The IU Kokomo baseball team opened River States Conference play Sunday afternoon with 3-1 and 9-2 wins on the road at Oakland City. With the two wins, the Cougars clinch the series win and improve to 9-7 on the year.

Game One Offensively

• The game was scoreless through four innings thanks to strong starts from both teams' starting pitchers, but IU Kokomo found the scoreboard first.
• Jack Leverenz doubled to right-center before scoring the next at-bat. Leverenz advanced to third on a ground-ball off the bat of Caden Whitehead and scored on a throwing-error by the Oakland City shortstop. IUK led 1-0 after five innings.
• Oakland City pushed one across in the bottom of seventh on two hits and one error to tie the game 1-1 after seven innings.
• Riley Garczynski led off the eighth with a single and would take second and third on wild-pitches before Jonathan Latham walked. With two outs, Noah Hurlock came through with a single to centerfield scoring Garczynski on the play and Gavin Smith, Latham's courtesy runner, scored on an error. The Cougars led 3-1 and went on to win by the same score.

Game One Pitching

• Ben Harris got the start and pitched well, tossing 6.1 innings while allowing one run and no earned runs on four hits. Harris walked two and struck out four.
• Brandon Bultemeier earned the win in relief to improve to 1-0 on the season. Bultemeier induced four fly-outs and a ground-out while allowing no runs, no hits, and no free passes.
• Garrison Brege tossed the ninth and picked up his first save of the season. Brege did not allow a hit, a run, or a free pass while inducing two ground-outs and a fly-out.

Game Two Offensively

• The Cougars offense was hot early, pushing six runs across in the top of the first.
• Garczynski reached on error and scored on a Jarod Gillespie RBI-single. Latham and Richter both walked with Latham scoring on a Whitehead walk. Gillespie and Richter would score on a Leverenz 2-RBI single. Gavin Smith singled in Whitehead and Leverenz would score as Garczynski reached via error for the second time of the inning.
• Latham led off the second with a home-run to to centerfield, extending the IU Kokomo lead to 7-0. Richter and Whitehead had back-to-back two out singles, and Richter scored on a throwing error by the catcher.
• Oakland City scratched an unearned run across in the bottom of the second and trailed 8-1 through two innings.
• The Mighty Oaks would score another unearned run in the fifth to trail 8-2 with two innings to play.
• IU Kokomo added a run in the sixth as Garczynski singled, advanced to second on a passed ball, stole third, and scored on a Luke Barnes single. Barnes RBI-single gave the Cougars a 9-2 lead that would prove to be the final score.

Game Two Pitching

• Lucas Letsinger was dominant from the opening pitch, tossing six innings of one-hit ball to improve to 2-2 on the season. Letsinger allowed two runs (0 earned) on one hit and one walk and two HBP while fanning 9.
• Connor Hurt tossed the seventh, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out one.

The Cougars will return to League Stadium in Huntingburg tomorrow afternoon for the series-finale against Oakland City. First-pitch is set for 2:00 P.M.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.