The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE postseason run came to an end for Perez Knowles and his Colombus State Cougars in the NCAA Division II World Series title game.

Knowles suffered his fourth loss of the season and the No.8 Cougars were eliminated with a 3-2 loss to the No.11 Augustana Vikings at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.

Knowles pitched five and 2/3 innings in the start and surrendered just two hits with three strikeouts.

The Cougars end the year with a record of 48-15 as the national runner-up for the third time, joining the 1986 and 2007 teams.

"There were a heck of a lot of good pitches made. Give Augustana all the credit today," Cougars head coach Greg Appleton said. "Their pitcher threw a great game and they came up with some big hits when they needed them. We gave it as good of an effort as we could, we were kind of running on fumes. I couldn't be more proud of this group of guys though. The leadership of the seniors, the personality of the guys, I'm glad they took me along on this great ride."

In their tournament debut, the Cougars defeated No. 24 Mercyhurst 8-1 on Sunday. Cougars ace Kolton Ingaham pitched eight innings and delivered 10 strikeouts.

In round two, Knowles took the mound, pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits with seven strikeouts in a 6-0 win over No. 22 UC San Diego. They suffered a 3-2 loss to No.3 Florida Southern, but rebounded the following day when they won the rematch 11-6 to advance to the final.

Knowles finished his season 8-4 and was an All Peach Belt Conference Second Team selection this season.

Some of his season highs this season included a complete game with nine innings pitched in the Regional tournament, 13 strikeouts against USC Aiken and a one hitter against Albany State. He started 18 games this season with a 3.44 ERA with 128 strikeouts.

Prior to his transfer to Columbus State, Knowles spent his previous collegiate years with the University of Troy Trojans.

Knowles appeared in 17 games out of the bullpen in two seasons. As a freshman, he appeared in 14 innings with 11 strikeouts and an ERA just over seven.

Once he transferred to Columbus State, Knowles appeared in 19 games for the Cougars and posted a 1.77 ERA and finished with a 3-3 record and a team-best three saves. He tallied 33 strikeouts in 35.2 innings.