Derek Hager’s not sure what’s gotten into him lately.

Usually, the Mankato East left fielder said, it’s not until the high school baseball season is a few weeks old that his bat finally warms up.

Not this year.

Hager entered Tuesday’s game against Mankato West hitting better than .600 and improved his average with a 3 for 4 performance that included the senior’s first varsity home run.

That performance sparked the Cougars’ 16-5 five-inning victory at Wolverton Field.

“I’ve been seeing the ball great, actually,” Hager said. “I’ve always struggled at the beginning of the year hitting the ball, but this year is different.”

After Chris Ward led off the bottom of the first with a double, Hager drove Chase Brown’s first-pitch fastball over the left-field fence.

The Cougars went on to score six runs in the inning. Hager also had an RBI single during an eight-run fourth inning.

“After Chase and I scored, I said, ‘This is going to be a long game,’ and, sure enough, it was,” Hager said. “But that was not a bad thing.”

East had 15 hits, including five in the first inning. The Cougars also took advantage of two West errors in the first.

“The nice thing about a veteran team is, when they sense somebody is on the ropes, they can deliver a knockout punch,” East coach Eric Davis said. “And we did that early.”

Chris Miller had a two-run double in the first inning and went 2 for 2 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Daniel Hager went 3 for 4 with two doubles, including a two-run double in the fourth.

Derek Hager also had a double and scored in the second.

“Their entire team swung the bat really well,” West coach Ethan Anderson said, “and it wasn’t an ideal night to hit.”

Jimmy Olson pitched four strong innings for East, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out four.