With eight runs scored in the first inning, the Trinity Lutheran baseball team was able to coast to a five-inning win against visiting South Decatur on Thursday.

In the first, the Cougars got two men on base by hit-by-pitches before Sam Crick notched an RBI single.

With the next at-bat, Nick Mensendiek managed an RBI single to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

An RBI single by Caleb Reedy, followed by a sacrifice RBI from Matt Fourman, kept the Cougars rolling.

The Cougars’ Jacob Moore hit a three-run triple to center field that hit the outfield fence to give his team a 7-0 advantage.

An RBI single from Jacob Schult ended the Cougars’ aggressive first inning to put the squad up 8-0.

“We started off real nice in the first inning, getting some guys on base with some hits, so that got us rolling,” Cougars coach Bob Tabeling said.

“We took advantage of adding on runs. Whenever you score eight runs in the first inning it puts pressure of everybody.”

Following a scoreless second inning, the Cougars scored on an RBI single from Schult and a wild pitch to take a 10-0 lead.

Sacrifice RBIs from Crick and Tyler Wenig concluded the scoring for the Cougars in the third.

A final Cougars run was scored in the bottom of the fourth off a South Decatur error at first base.

Crick picked up the win on the mound for the Cougars, throwing five strikeouts, two hits and no walks in two innings.

Coach Tabeling said he’s asked his team to take a less passive stance at the plate right now.

“We’re asking our guys to be more aggressive,” he said. “We tend to take strikes and get ourselves in trouble. We’re asking that they be aggressive early in the count. I think we put a lot more balls into play and that was effective. That’s a positive thing we did.”

With the win, the Cougars move to 8-9 on the season.