Freshmen lead Cougs

LAS VEGAS – Chalk one up for the kiddie corps.

Freshmen Shea Vucinich and John Desmarais drove in four runs apiece to lead Washington State to a 9-5 non-conference baseball victory over UNLV Wednesday night.

Vucinich, who prepped at Coeur d’Alene High School, was 5 for 5 and drove in four runs for the Cougars (4-1), who swept the two-game series and completed their first road series sweep since taking three games from Northern Colorado April 21-23, 2006.

Desmarais had four hits and also drove in four runs.

“Our young guys provided the offense and once again our bullpen was outstanding,” WSU coach Donnie Marbut said.

Andrew Davis pitched 21/3 innings of shutout relief to pick up his first win of the season.

With the Cougars cruising along with a 9-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth, the Rebels (2-3) scored four runs on five hits off Cougars starter James Wise before Davis came in to get a strikeout to end the threat.

Seth Harvey and Steve Kost finished up with a scoreless inning apiece.

The Cougars bullpen is 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA this season.

WSU hosts Wright State in a three-game set beginning on Friday.