Cuesta Baseball, seeded #12, needed just two games to get past #13-seed Southwestern in their best-of-three playoff series.  The Cougars beat the Jaguars, 10-3, yesterday and claimed Game 2, 10-4, today to advance to the CCCAA Super Regional.  Today, the Cougars, who were the designated visitor for the second game, jumped out with three runs on three hits to open the contest.  The Jaguars answered with a single run in both the second and third innings to close the gap, however Cuesta Catcher Jack Gradel (pict) broke the game in the 5th inning. Gradel opened the frame with a two-RBI single before he was driven in on Aidan Botti's base-hit from to give Cuesta a five-run lead, 7-2.  After the stretch, Southwestern Shortstop Maddox Haley popped a two-run home run to cut the Cougars' lead in half, 7-4, but Cuesta Designated Hitter Jacob Johnson answered with a two-run dinger of his own to put the lead back to four runs.  Johnson and First Baseman Tristan Usher each enjoyed a game-high three-hit day at the plate, but all nine Cuesta starters contributed, at least, one hit to the team's 16 safeties on the day.    On the mound, Cuesta Starter Justin Cortez locked in his team-leading ninth win of the season, before handing his five-run lead off to Relievers Tyler Smith and Victor Heredia, to close out the victory.  

The Cougars, now 27-15 on the season, will advance to the CCCAA Super Regional next weekend (May 8-10) hosted by #1-seed Mt San Antonio, who swept #24 College of the Desert, in Walnut this weekend.  The Cougars and Mounties shall be joined, in the three-team double-elimination event, by #8 Chaffey, who needed extra innings to complete their sweep over #17 Golden West this weekend.