Castillo Complete Game Shutout Paves Way for Tigers Win

Senior starting pitcher Johan Castillo made his impact known instantly in his season debut for the Tigers. The standout pitcher made his debut Friday afternoon and pitched a gem. Castillo looked like he was on cruise control for the majority of the game just carving up Saint Xavier's hitters and not allowing them to get comfortable within the box at all. The only inning that did not go as smoothly for Castillo was the 5th inning. The Cougar bats were finally able to string together a couple of hits to put some stress on Castillo. However, he managed to get a tailor-made ground ball to third baseman Payton Rios, who was able to turn a much-needed double play, so that they could get out of the inning unscathed. Castillo was able to retire 6 of the last 7 batters, and striking out all three in the bottom of the 7th to claim victory. Castillo's final line was 7IP, 7Ks, 5H, 0BB, and 0ER. 

The Tiger bats were not as hot as last weekend, but still managed to muster across runs to support Castillo's dominance on the bump. Only 4 Tiger starters managed to get hits with two getting multiple hits. The Tigers scratched across their first run in the 5th when junior outfielder Joshua Duarte walked and wreaked havoc on the basepaths. He stole second and managed to advance to third, due to an error by the catcher. He then managed to score the game-winning run thanks to a passed ball. The Tigers would go on to add an insurance run in the 6th when fellow junior outfielder Bryan Sanders would put a ball in play and force another Cougar error to allow Rios to score. Payton Rios and Hank Schineller would both keep up hot starts to the season by getting multiple hits and anchoring down the middle of the Tigers lineup. 

The Tigers are back in action tomorrow as they face St. Francis (IL) in a doubleheader down in TN. Game 1 is slated to start at 12 pm with game 2 following shortly after.