For The Tribune

Even though the Trinity Lutheran baseball team came into Saturday’s double header with a winning record, they hadn’t seen a baseball team with quite the talent that Indy Lutheran possessed.

The Saints had only lost a couple of close games to bigger schools, one being Perry Meridian.

Saints senior hurler Seth Hougeson threw a no-hitter in the first game as the Cougars were beaten 15-0.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Hougeson hit one batter, walked another, but struck out fifteen Trinity hitters in a five inning game.

“Hougeson is one of the best we’ve seen and maybe the best we’ll see,” Cougars assistant coach Clint Thomas said. “He’s going to shut out a lot of teams.”

The Cougars used three pitchers in game one as Jake Moore pitched three innings, Jacob Shult pitched the fourth and Nick Mensendiek pitched the fifth inning.

Hougeson was credited with the win, and Moore the loss.

The Cougars pitchers allowed fourteen hits, and their team committed five errors.

In game two, the Cougars put up a better fight.

Moore started off the game with a single and advanced to third but fell short of scoring.

Even though Trinity didn’t score they had three hits and left four runners in scoring position.

The Cougars Sam Crick pitched the first four and one-third innings, allowing twelve hits and eleven runs, and Mensendiek relieved in the fifth inning, allowing one hit and one run.

Senior Austin Mays recorded the Saints win, and Crick recorded the loss.

The Saints prevailed 12-0.

Indy Lutheran only had three stolen bases in the second game, but six wild pitches by the Cougars, and four Cougar errors, allowed the Saints to advance runners often.

“They are going to win a lot of games this year,” Thomas said. “They hit the ball. They played good (defense) and their pitchers threw a lot of strikes.

“It’s a good team to see. We want to be like that team one day. We’ve got a lot to learn.”

A young team, the Cougars youth showed against a veteran Saints squad.

“It showed what a team full of seniors can do to a team full of freshmen and sophomores today,” Thomas said.

The Cougars (7-8) have three games this week, starting with Oldenburg Academy tomorrow evening.