Kean's Sam Fourre stifled Denison's comeback bid on Saturday afternoon by working his way out of a one-out jam in the ninth inning.  The No. 2-ranked Cougars edged the Big Red, 7-6, in Whittier, Calif.

Trailing 7-2 after five and a half innings, Denison began their rally with a very productive bottom half of the sixth.  Senior Kevin Teague led the frame off with a base on balls.  After a David Holmes single to right center moved pinch runner Evan Nicholson to third, sophomore Kyle Clemmenson drove in Nicholson with a sacrifice fly to left.  With runners at first and second, Holmes reached home following a single by sophomore Danny Kraus and a Cougar throwing error.  California native Matt Forgatch knocked in the final run of the frame with a sac fly to left that scored rookie Jeremy Tirado.

After two and a half scoreless inning, Denison still trailed Kean 7-5.  Kraus was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the ninth and advanced to second on a balk.  Forgatch trimmed the deficit to one with a single to left that scored Kraus.  The Big Red run forced the Cougars to put the ball in Fourre's hands.  Forgatch made it all the way to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Lowell Hall and a fly out by Tim Duxbury.  However, Fourre was able to strikeout the ensuing batter to save the win.

Forgatch went 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored to pace all Denison hitters, while Kraus finished with two hits, an RBI and a run scored.  Junior Tyler Vaske suffered the loss after allowing seven runs and striking out five in five innings of work.  Dale McOsker had another strong outing in relief surrendering just two hits and striking out four in 3.2 innings.

The Cougars (9-1) were led by Nick Nolan who went 3-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and five RBIs.  Ryan Zamorsky earned his first win of the year after giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits in five innings.  Fourre notched one K en route to his first save of the season.

Denison (1-5) returns to action on Monday (Mar. 16) when they take on Rutgers-Newark in Redlands, Calif.  Game time is slated for 11 a.m. PST.