by James Beltran
Staff Writer
The name of the game in Tuesday night's matchup with the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners was Dodge the Bullet.
Cougars starting pitcher Jon McDonald did a good job of it, leaving the bases loaded in each of his first two innings of work. He flirted with disaster, only allowing one run through the first two while allowing his team to gather a 6-2 lead at the end of five innings.
McDonald said, "I've pitched better than I have in the past, but I know I still need to work on my control. I started throwing sidearm so the ball went outside. But Coach talked to me and I adjusted and I started going inside. That's what got me through this game."
Through his five frames, McDonald (5-2 on the season) handed out six bases on balls, allowing two runs and striking out four.
McDonald's five innings qualified him as the winning pitcher.
The Cougar bats scored four in the second inning, highlighted by Matt Ferrell's two-RBI single to center field that put Houston on top.
No home runs in the game for Houston, but Shaun Skrehot did rip a second-inning RBI triple to right-center field to bump the Cougars' offensive tally to three runs.
Another major contributor to the Houston offense was Ryan Ware, who hit 2-for-3.
Robert Dieudonné came in relief in the sixth inning to protect the Houston lead. He was set on outdoing his teammate McDonald for pitching more on the edge. He escaped his first inning with no runs with the help of a spectacular catch by Dustin Carr on a sharply hit liner down the third-base line that would have scored two if not snagged.
"We know if we make a mistake pitch and they hit it hard, our fielders can make the play," Dieudonné said. "That does a lot for our confidence."
He was again threatened in the eighth, with the Roadrunners putting their first two batters on base with consecutive walks. Dieudonné proved once again, though, he can live life in the fast lane and get away with it. He proceeded to strike out the next three he faced, preserving the Cougars' two-run defense.
Dieudonné said he was happy with his performance, but would rather not have the baserunners. "There are always concerns when you have runners on first and second with no outs," he said. "But I'm glad Coach left me in so I was able to get out of it myself."
He went on to finish the game, shooting down the Roadrunners in order in the ninth for the 7-2 victory.
Dieudonné pitched four innings, giving up only two hits and no runs with three strikeouts on his way to his fifth save of the season.
The Cougars play the Sam Houston State Bearkats 7 p.m. today at Cougar Field as they go for two in a row.