EDWARDSVILLE – It was definitely a big day for Mascoutah pitcher Darren Klein, who simply stymied the Edwardsville hitting attack, retiring the first 12 batters in a row before giving up back-to-back singles to lead of the fifth inning, then settled back in and retired the final eight men consecutively, striking out seven in a masterful performance in a 5-0 Indians win over the Tigers in a baseball game Tuesday afternoon, March 31, 2026, at Tom Pile Field.
On top of that, Klein also hit a first-inning homer off of Tigers ace Hunter Baugh to get Mascoutah off on the right foot. But it was his showing on the mound that caught everyone’s attention.
“Darren’s has great stuff,” said Edwardsville coach Tim Funkhouser. “He’s a great competitor, and he was able to execute his pitches. It made it really tough on our hitters, and you have to tip your cap to him. We have things we’ll need to get better at and grow from, but you tip your cap to him, because he was outstanding.”
It’s tough back-to-back losses for Edwardsville, going back to a 6-5 loss to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin Catholic the day before, Funkhouser felt the Tigers battled back well in that game, but couldn’t get over the hump.
“We had one that we got down early,” Funkhouser said, “we battled back, but we just couldn’t push more across, and I felt like we had the potential, really, to win a game like that. We didn’t execute as much. Today, we didn’t have a solution for Klein, which would have made it more challenging for him. There are some things we’ll just continue to get better at. We have a lot of things we need to get better at, but it’ll be a fun process. It’s not always fun throughout the whole process for everybody, but it’s fun finding out what you need to get better at, and putting your whole energy towards that.”
Baugh came out in the sixth inning after getting the first out, but he’s OK, and despite the adversity, also pitched well.
“Hunter’s great,” Funkhouser said. “He’s got a great attitude, his bat’s been explosive, he’s been awesome. We’ll catch up later and figure out how he’s doing, but he’s been outstanding for us. He’s a great competitor.”
The Tigers are scheduled for a cluster on Saturday – weather permitting – at Jackson, Mo., before opening the Southwestern Conference season next Tuesday at home against Alton. Funkhouser is more focused on helping his players get better and improve every day.
“We want to continue to get better over the next week,” Coach Funkhouser said. “Hopefully, we’ll get the games in down there in Jackson, but I know there is some possible bad weather predicted. But either way, we’re going to try to get better the next day, then the next day after that, the next day after that, and see where we’re at in the game, and do the same thing,” he said. “It sounds kind of boring, or coachspeak, but that’s really what we go through on an annual basis. Hopefully, as you build more success, you build more confidence, and you repeat that success more often.”
Klein started the game off with a two-out homer over the center field fence to give the Indians an early 1-0 lead, which doubled in the top of the second on a lead-off home run by Nathan Walker to make it 2-0 for Mascoutah. David Schulte then singled up the middle, but was thrown out a second trying to steal. Baugh settled in and retired four in a row, but in the third, Nolan Leibert singled with one out, and Gabe James doubled to center to score Leibert and give Mascoutah a 3-0 lead.
Baugh settled in again and retired nine in a row, but came out in favor of Ty Hunt with one out in the top of the sixth. Klein drew a walk, went to third on a single by Carson Moll, and scored when Hunt was called for a balk, with courtesy runner Sean Hulsey going to second, making it 4-0 for the Indians.
In the seventh with one out, Mason Bennett doubled, and one out later, advanced to third on a Leibert hit. The two runners then executed a double steal when Leibert broke for second, with the pitcher running off the mound to get Leibert in a rundown. Bennett broke for the plate and successfully stole home, while Leibert took second to give the Indians a 5-0 lead.
Klein rolled along, retiring the first 12 batters he faced before Tyson Wampler and Jack Kirgan hit singles back-to-back to stop the perfect game. Kirgan was erased on a double play, and Klein set down the final eight batters in a row to gain the 5-0 win for Mascoutah.
Wampler and Kirgan had the only two hits on the day for Edwardsville, while Baugh went for 5.1 innings and was charged with the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits, walking nine, and striking out seven. Hunt went for one inning, giving up two earned runs on three hits, walking one, and fanning one, and Andrew McKey pitched the final 0.1 inning and got the out.
Mascoutah is now 6-0, and next plays at home against Collinsville at 4:30 p.m., then plays a doubleheader at Waterloo Gibault Catholic, the first game starting at 11 a.m., and hosts Belleville West next Monday at 4:30 p.m.
The Tigers go to 3-5, and are set to play in the cluster at Jackson, meeting Eureka, Mo. first at 10 a.m., then the host Indians at 12:30 p.m., then meet Alton in a two-game series Apr. 7 and 9, the first game at Tom Pile Field, with the return game at Redbirds Field, both games starting at 4:30 p.m.
