COLUMBUS, Ga. | Columbus State University's Caleb Kutsche pitched a complete game as the Cougars shut out Young Harris College 8-0 Friday (March 10) evening at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field to open a Peach Belt Conference weekend series.

The Cougars improved to 11-7 overall and to 6-1 in the Peach Belt, while the Mountain Lions fell to 5-12 and 0-4. The teams will wrap up the series Saturday (March 11) with a 1 p.m. first pitch due to expected rains on Sunday (March 12).

Kutsche improved to 5-1 as he scattered five hits and struck out seven. Kutsche only allowed two runners to reach second base all night and retired 18 of the final 21 batters he faced.

The Cougars took advantage of wildness - 12 walks and three hit batters - by the Young Harris pitching corps to generate their offense. Columbus State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Chris Noonan (0-2) issued four walks.

Columbus State added a run in the fifth on a balk to take a 4-0 lead. The Cougars pushed across three more runs in the sixth on just one hit as they sent nine to the plate. Turner Vincent drove in the first run as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Mason McClellan drove in the other two with his single to center field. Bryce Delevie tallied a seventh-inning RBI with his single through the right side to account for Columbus State's final run.

Zach Beggs and Rudy Gaona had two hits to lead the Mountain Lions, while Tyler Washington had the other hit.

Columbus State, which left 13 runners on base, collected six hits. McClellan led the way with two, while Tyler Fichter, Gunar Drinnen, Grant Berry, and Delevie had one each.