BELLEVILLE – Both Andrew McCutchen and Tyson Wampler led Edwardsville with two hits and an RBI apiece, while pitcher Tony Eberlin struck out five in a solid five-inning showing on the mound, as the Tigers swept Belleville East in their two-game Southwestern Conference series 6-1 Thursday afternoon at East’s ballpark.
The Tigers solidified their hold on the lead of the conference, and are now 7-1 in the league, in first place by two games over O’Fallon, Belleville West, and Collinsville, all of them currently at 4-2.
Edwardsville scored twice at the top of the third, starting with a one-out single by Sutton Leas, with courtesy runner Nolan Vojak scoring when Zane Maxwell bunted down the third base line and was safe for a base hit, Vojak coming in on a throwing error by the pitcher, and Maxwell going to third. McCutchen executed a squeeze bunt perfectly and brought Maxwell home on the base hit, making it 2-0 Edwardsville.
Ty Hunt led off the fifth with a walk, then went to second when Leas reached on an error, with Maxwell sacrificing both runners to second and third, respectively. A walk to McCutchen loaded the bases, and Hunter Baugh got on via an error by the third baseman, allowing Hunt to score and keep the bases loaded. Jack Kirgan then drew a walk to force home Vojak to make the score 4-0 for the Tigers, Wampler singled home McCutchen, and one out later, Nick Chiarodo was hit by a pitch to force home Baugh, the bases still loaded. East got out of the inning, but the Tigers led 6-0.
The Lancers got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, starting with back-to-back leadoff walks to Adam Smith and Nasir Fares, with Kaedon Lane singling one out later to load the bases. J.J. Cates grounded back to the box, scoring Smith to make it 6-1, with Hunt, who came on in relief of Eberlin in the sixth, getting a fly out to end the game in favor of the Tigers 6-1.
Both McCutchen and Wampler led the way for Edwardsville with two hits and an RBI each, while Leas, Sean Murphy, and Maxwell all had hits, and both Kirgan, Baugh, and Chiarodo had an RBI each. Eberlin threw five solid innings in being credited for the win, giving up only two hits, walking none and fanning five, while Hunt pitched the final two innings, allowing an earned run on one hit, walking three and striking out one.
Reed Neumayer, Brody Lindemann, and Lane had hits for East, with Cates having the only RBI. Connor Gray started on the mound, and was charged with the loss, going for 4.1 innings, allowing six runs, one earned, on three hits, walking three, and striking out two. Smith threw 1.2 innings, allowing only three hits, walking one, and fanning one. Neumayer pitched 0.2 innings, striking out one, and another pitcher threw the final 0.1 innings, allowing a hit while fanning one.
The Tigers are now 13-8, and meet East Peoria Friday afternoon at home in a 4:15 p.m. start, then host East St. Louis in a doubleheader Tuesday, with the first game starting at 4:30 p.m., then host the annual Tiger Classic round robin tournament next Friday and Saturday,, playing Teutopolis Friday night at 7 p.m., then going against Chatham Glenwood Saturday morning at 10 a.m, then against Highland at 12:30 p.m.
The Lancers are now 8-15-1, and next play at Valmeyer Monday, then host Effingham St. Anthony Catholic on Wednesday, and Belleville Althoff Catholic May 11, with all games starting at 4:30 p.m.
