EDWARDSVILLE — Nick Chiarodo delivered four shutout innings and Edwardsville capitalized on Alton miscues to open Southwestern Conference play with a 9-2 victory Tuesday afternoon at Tom Pile Field.
Edwardsville scored four runs in the third inning and added four more in the sixth to pull away. The win moved the Tigers to 5-6, while Alton fell to 6-5.
“It was a great team win for us,” Edwardsville head coach Tim Funkhouser said. “I thought Nick Chiarodo was really good on the mound for us. They have a good offensive lineup, and he did a good job of being able to pitch in the zone, we had some guys make some plays behind him. So, we created some runs different ways, showed some versatility there, it was a good win for us, and it’s a good to stat off the conference season with a W.”
Funkhouser also pointed to the importance of conference games and the performance of his bullpen.
“Our conference, year in and year out, there’s some great teams,” Funkhouser said, “and every game matters. I thought Miller (Dunnill) threw well in relief, and it was good to see some of the things we’ve been working on come to fruition.”
The Tigers threatened in the first on back-to-back infield hits by Ty Hunt and Hunter Baugh, but Alton kept the game scoreless by throwing out Hunt at the plate on a fielder’s choice and getting a groundout to end the inning.
Edwardsville broke through in the third. Tyon Wampler was hit by a pitch and Jack Kirgan walked, with both advancing on a wild pitch. Chiarodo reached on a fielder’s choice and an error by the first baseman as Wampler scored for a 1-0 lead. Kirgan later scored on a fielder’s choice grounder to short, and Andrew McCutchen’s two-run single made it 4-0.
Edwardsville added a run in the fourth when Baugh walked, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Wampler’s sacrifice fly to left.
In the sixth, the Tigers pushed across four more runs. Zane Maxwell walked, advanced on a pickoff throw that got away and moved to third on a passed ball. After a walk to Hunt, Baugh hit into a fielder’s choice to third as Maxwell scored to make it 6-0. Hunt later scored on Wampler’s RBI single, and Max McMichael added a sacrifice fly to center as Edwardsville extended the lead to 9-0.
Alton scored in the seventh after singles by Parker Cannon and Blake Rensing and a walk to Jack Puent loaded the bases. Alex Pilger and Anderson Kauffman each drove in a run with RBI singles, cutting the deficit to 9-2 before a forceout at third ended the game.
Wampler led Edwardsville with a hit and three RBIs. McCutchen had a hit and two RBIs, and Baugh had a hit and an RBI. Hunt, Aiden May and Joel Fields had hits, and Chiarodo, Bukovac and McMichael each drove in a run.
Chiarodo earned the win, allowing two hits in four innings with three walks and four strikeouts. Dunnill worked the final three innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
For Alton, Pilger and Kauffman each had a hit and an RBI. Puent, Cannon, Donovan Ducey and Rensing had hits. Pilger took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits in three innings with two walks and one strikeout. Puent went two innings-plus and allowed five runs, three earned, on one hit with four walks and two strikeouts. Parker Wendle had a clean line in limited time, and Fletcher Groppel pitched one inning, allowing one hit with one walk.
The teams meet again Thursday at Redbirds Field in a 4:30 p.m. start. Edwardsville is scheduled to play Mattoon at Busch Stadium in St. Louis at about 5 p.m. following the St. Louis Cardinals-Boston Red Sox game, then play O’Fallon in a two-game set at Blazier Field in O’Fallon and at Tom Pile Field on April 17, with both games starting at 4:30 p.m.
Alton is scheduled to host Freeburg on Saturday at 11 a.m., then play at Gillespie on Monday, host East St. Louis on Tuesday and play at Roxana on April 15, with those games starting at 4:30 p.m.
