WNC 11, Middle Georgia 6

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. " Western Nevada's Jerome Pena hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth inning Monday to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead en route to an 11-6 victory over Middle Georgia at the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series.

Pena went 2 for 5 and drove in three runs for the Wildcats, but he had plenty of help.

Every player in the starting lineup collected at least one hit. Brian Barnett and Mike Long each had two RBIs.

Western Nevada got the scoring started with two runs in the first and added one more in the third inning.

In the top of the fourth, the Warriors tied it up with three runs on a three-run home run by Josh Purvis.

From that point on it was the Wildcats doing a lot of the scoring, adding three runs in the fifth and two in the seventh.

The Warriors cut it to 8-6 in the top of the eighth. They had runners on first and third with no outs, but reliever Kramer Champlin shut them down with two strikeouts, and in the bottom the Wildcats added three more to secure the win.

Pena can see Western Nevada getting on a roll by playing every day after losing the tournament opener to top-ranked Howard (Texas) College.

"We just keep playing every day, which means more swings for us," Pena said. "Once our team gets going and our offense gets going we are hard to stop."

Centerfielder Mike Long robbed Middle Georgia of two base hits with spectacular catches. With two runners on in the third, he made a diving catch of a sinking line drive, preventing the runners from scoring.

Long gave credit to the coaches for the play in the third.

"All season we have taken pride in positioning ourselves well in the outfield and we have a good scouting report from Coach (Kevin) Edwards," Long said. "I was in the right spot and got a good read on it."

Western Nevada coach D.J. Whittemore said one of the keys to the game was Champlin pitching out of the bullpen.

"Kramer was the Region 8 pitcher of the year he has been our best pitcher all year," Whittemore said. "We wouldn't be here without him and we still wouldn't be playing without him."

Champlin pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up two runs and striking out four.

Champlin's performance helped save the bullpen, a big advantage in the losers' bracket.

"It was huge. We still have to win three more games and pitching is going to become an issue at some point," he said. "Those guys chewed up a lot of innings and did a good job."

The Wildcats play Tuesday at 3 p.m. against the loser of Saturday night's game between Howard and Shelton State.