DAVENPORT, FL — The Houghton Highlanders picked up their first two wins of the season behind a pair of solid outings, some timely hitting, and some pressure on the base paths, sweeping the Chatham Cougars, 5-4 and 5-3.
 
GAME VITALS                           
Game 1 Score: Houghton – 5 | Chatham – 4
Game 2 Score: Chatham – 3 | Houghton – 5
Records: Houghton: 2-3 | Chatham: 3-3
Venue: Field #2, Northeast Regional Park | Attendance: 62/62
 
Game 1: Jeremey Wilcox struck out six batters over four innings, giving up four hits, and Trevor Ciccotti picked up his first win of the season, tossing a near-perfect three innings out of the pen.
 
Ciccotti allowed only one baserunner, who reached on a throwing error. 
 
After Houghton scored two in the first and two more in the third to take a 4-0 lead, the Wildcats took advantage of four walks, two hits and a sacrifice fly to pull within a run, 4-3. 
 
Chatham would then tie the game in the fourth with another walk and a pair of base hits.
 
Houghton plated the winning run in the fifth when Chris VanCheri led off with a triple to right, and a ground ball and throwing error by the Wildcats plated VanCheri.
 
Game 2:  Aiden Talcott picked up his first collegiate victory, tossing a complete game, while allowing only six hits and one walk, while striking out three.
 
The Highlanders again jumped out to an early lead, scoring three runs in the first inning.
 
Chatham got a run back in the bottom of the third on a ground-rule double, but Talcott settled down and worked out of a jam.
 
Dylan Boprey gave Talcott some cushion on the bottom of the fourth, lacing an RBI single to left to score Isaac Mann. 
 
The Cougars struck again in the top of the fifth.  Following a one-out walk, Quinn Burke hit a two-run homer to left, pulling Chatham within a run.
 
But Talcott quickly induced two more ground balls to work out of the inning.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Vincent Lucyszyn laced a two-out single, stole second, and raced home on a Jose Morales base hit to centerfield, giving Talcott all of the support he would need, as he pitched perfect sixth and seventh innings
  
KEY STATS:
>> 11 of Talcott's 21 outs would come via ground out.
>> The Highlanders swiped eight bases on the day, including two more by Jose Morales, who now has four stolen bases through the first five games.
 
>> Jason Kauffeldt and Chris VanCheri each collected three hits for the Highlanders.
 
COACH'S CORNER:
"Overall we played quite well today.  Adding Chris [VanCheri] and Sebastian [Rodriguez] to our lineup definitely gave us a boost. 
 
"I can't say enough about Aiden Talcott and Trevor Ciccotti.  Trevor came into a tie game and just pummeled the zone.  He kept them off balance and didn't allow a single hard-hit ball.
 
"Aiden followed suit in game two—filling the zone and keeping their hitters off balance all day.  He made two mistakes and they made us pay, but he bounced back quickly and never deviated from his game plan.  Very impressive first collegiate outing.
 
"I felt like we were able to play baseball today the way I anticipated we would play this year—putting pressure on opponents on offense and defense; dictating the terms.  It wasn't a perfect day, but it was certainly a good day.  We made a lot of progress today and I'm looking forward to developing some momentum tomorrow." – Head Coach Brian Reitnour
 
UP NEXT:
The Highlanders return to Northeast Regional Park tomorrow for a matchup with John Jay College at 10:30 a.m.