Pitching is the "name of the game" and freshman Spencer Patton was the perfect example of why, tossing a 1-hit shutout in the Cougars' 10-0 rout over the Noble Wildcats.

Patton, picking-up his first varsity win, had a no-hitter going through four and a third when Nathan Deain lofted a soft liner into shallow centerfield to break it up. He also struck out 9 batters along the way and allowed only one other batted ball to reach the outfield.

Offensively, the Cougars have been making a habit of scoring early and often and today was no exception, as they pushed 5 runs across in their first at-bat.

A pair of Noble errors and a walk plated the first run and a second one scored when Brian Wodtka ripped and RBI single to left. Nick Jones followed with a two-out RBI double to left-center and Jeremy Chasteen singled in two to make it 5-0.

Jason Shirley ripped and RBI double in the 2nd to make it 6-0 and the Cougars added two more in the 4th on RBI's by Kevin Wilkins and Matt Wegener. Patton, pinch-hitting for Chasteen in the sixth, drove home the final 2 runs with a bad-hop single over the 3rd baseman's head.

The Cougars(9-4) are back in action again tomorrow when they travel to North Clay for a 4:30 make-up game at Louisville City Park.

BOXSCORE