Cougars Finish in Second Place with Back-to-Back Road Wins Over Siskiyous
Game 1: Lassen Breaks It Open Late in 10-3 Victory
With second place in the conference on the line, Lassen College delivered a complete performance on April 23, defeating College of the Siskiyous 10-3 on the road. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, the Cougars settled in and dominated the rest of the night, using timely hitting, aggressive baserunning, and strong pitching to take control.
Lassen answered immediately in the second inning when Spencer Truebenbach drove in Damico Parker before Ethan Beede later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Jackson Rosenthal’s sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Cougars their first lead before the offense exploded in the sixth inning. Roque Serrano ripped a two-run double, Kylan Kono added an RBI double, and Jack Zimmerman followed with an RBI single as Lassen stretched the lead to 7-2.
Serrano led the offensive attack with three hits and three RBIs, while Kono finished with two hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Damico Parker added two hits and scored twice, and Ethan Beede scored two runs as Lassen pounded out 12 hits. The Cougars continued adding insurance in the ninth inning with RBIs from Kale Dunn, Serrano, and Kono to put the game away.
On the mound, Evan Rhoden earned the win after battling through five solid innings and striking out five. Kyson Goates was dominant in relief, allowing just one hit over three scoreless innings, while Freeman Rountree closed out the victory. Lassen also played clean defense with no errors and turned two double plays in another sharp all-around performance.
Game 2: Cougars Rally Again to Secure Series and Second Place
Lassen officially clinched second place in conference on April 24 with another gritty road victory, edging Siskiyous 5-4 in Weed. The Cougars showed resilience after falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, steadily chipping away before taking the lead for good in the eighth.
Damico Parker sparked the comeback throughout the afternoon, finishing 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Ethan Beede once again came through in key moments, driving in three runs including the eventual game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning that scored Parker and gave Lassen a 5-4 lead.
The Cougars tied the game in the fifth in dramatic fashion when Kylan Kono stole home to make it 3-3. Lassen regained the lead in the seventh on a sacrifice RBI from Jack Zimmerman before Siskiyous answered in the bottom half. Beede’s clutch hit in the eighth ultimately proved to be the difference as Lassen closed out the season series with another tough conference win.
Lassen’s bullpen was outstanding. Caden Fowler battled through the early innings, Trent Bailey stabilized the middle frames, Ben Lukens earned the win with two strong innings, and Noah Kimura shut the door in the ninth for the save. The Cougars finished the regular season stretch playing some of their best baseball of the year.