EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville trailed Jersey 5-3 in the seventh inning of their game Friday afternoon, May 15, 2026, at Tom Pile Field, but Mace Karnes’ sacrifice fly brought in Ty Hunt, Granite Peterson sent a 2-1 pitch over the left-center field fence for a game-tying homer with two out, to force extra innings. In the eighth, Nolan Voka laid down a perfectly executed squeeze bunt for a base hit that scored Zane Maxwell with the winning run, which allowed the Tigers to come back for a dramatic 6-5 win over the Panthers.
It was also the annual Senior Day game, and in the annual pregame ceremonies, the Tiger seniors – Hunter Baugh, Jax Andreas, Tony Eberlin, Brady Hasquin, Karnes, Jack Kirgan, Maxwell, Aiden May, Chase Milburn, Sean Murphy, Peterson, and Calyx Wise – and their families were introduced, saluted, recognized, and thanked for all of their contributions to the program. Once the game started, it was a closely fought contest all the way, with the Panthers scoring three times in the sixth to go ahead, only to see the Tigers rally from behind to pull out the win.
The game also marked the return of Milburn to the mound after having missed almost the entire season because of injury. Milburn pitched two scoreless innings and was very effective in his return. It ended on Vojak’s game-winning bunt single, and in between, there was never a dull moment in an exciting game.
“It was kind of one of those epic games” said Tigers Head Coach Tim Funkhouser, “because one, it’s Senior Day, all these guys have put a ton of time in over the years, whether they were playing in a youth field, or in our middle schools, or in high school, now they start realizing the end of the school year’s coming, and also, the end of our regular season; hopefully, we’ve got more to play after that. But it was just really fun to see it.”
Coach Funkhouser also talked about the return of Milburn to the team as well as the contributions of the senior class to the highly successful Tigers baseball program.
“We have a few of our guys like Chase Milburn, who had been coming back from an injury, so he hasn’t really thrown in over a year, now in real competition,” Funkhouser said. “So, for him to go out and do what he did today was super exciting in its own realm. But for him, Tony pitched yesterday. Hunter has been with us for four years, so a solid four years on the varsity level and also impactful in the history of our program.
“Those three combo guys together have really impacted it more than any other group. And then, all the other guys, we had 14 seniors out there today, and how about the memory Grant Peterson has?” he said with a big smile. “A senior guy, his greatest memory before the game was hitting an inside-the-parker at Busch Stadium in his first time being on the varsity field with us. Then today, he gets to hit one with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to send it to extra innings. It’s something special.
“Maxwell plays the game so well,” Funkhouser continued, “continues to play defense, make plays, get on base; he was an on-base machine today. He reads a third-base read to get to third, and Vojak does his thing of laying down the bunt there. So, just an overall great way to come away with a win, and get these guys memories of a lifetime.”
The Tigers are now 21-10 on the season, and it marks the 46th consecutive 20-win season for the team, a remarkable run that started in 1980 under Pile.
“It’s happened 46 straight times,” Funkhouser said, “but that is not something we take for granted. We know that it’s tough to win 20 games. It shows the consistency of all the players we’ve had in our program, and prior to that, with coach Pile, and my dad (Bill Funkhouser) before that. So, that’s just amazing.
“They’re willing to put in work, we have good players that want to put in work, and want to bring it every day. We’re not afraid to play a challenging schedule. I think Jersey was at least 19 wins, maybe 20, somewhere around there. All of our guys just went out there and competed. Karnes made a diving play out in center field early in the game, and made some other plays, and did a great job there. We turned several double plays on the infield, so overall, just a great setting. You want to come away from Senior Day with a good feeling, and boy, we have some great memories.”
The Panthers had chances in the first, thanks to back-to-back singles by both Graham Vanausdoll and Abe Kribs, but couldn’t score, and in the second, as Jude Jones and Isaac Hackethal both singled, but a double play ended the inning. Edwardsville broke out on top in the home half of the second. Karnes led off by reaching on an error, and Peterson walked, but Max McMichael was called out on strikes, and Karnes was thrown out trying to steal third. Maxwell walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch to give Edwardsville the lead 1-0.
Jersey tied the game in the third, with Shane Lamer and Vanausdoll leading off with singles, and after an infield fly for an out, Brady Maxeiner singled home Lamer to draw the Panthers level at 1-1, with Graham Vanausdoll going to third. Maddox Vanausdoll then grounded to the third baseman, who threw to the plate, but Graham Vanausdoll beat the throw to score and put Jersey ahead 2-1.
Edwardsville tied it in the home half of the inning, as Kirgan walked with one out, and Murphy walked with two out. Karnes then singled home Kirgan to tie the game 2-2. Jersey had a chance to retake the lead in the fourth, starting when Bryce Hutchens singled, was sacrificed to second by Hackethal, and Evan Cheek walked. Both advanced on a passed ball, and Graham Vanausdoll walked to load the bases, but Kribs struck out, then was thrown out at first when the catcher dropped the third strike, keeping the score tied 2-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, with two out, Maxwell walked, was singled to third by Aiden May, and scored on a Baugh double to give the Tigers back the lead 3-2. In the fifth, four straight walks to Bryce Hutchens, Hackethal, Cheek, and Lamer brought in Hutchens to tie the game 3-3, and a two-RBI single by Graham Vanausdoll gave the Panthers a 5-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ty Hunt and Murphy led off with singles, with Hunt going to third, but courtesy runner Andrew McCutchen was picked off first. Later in the inning, Karnes’ sacrifice fly to center scored Hunt to pull the Tigers to within 5-4. On a 2-1 count, Peterson hit his game-tying homer over the left center to draw Edwardsville level at 5-5, sending the Tigers and their fans wild with delight and forcing extra innings.
Jersey went down in order at the top of the eighth, and Maxwell drew a walk to start the Edwardsville eighth. Maxwell then stole second and went to third on a passed ball. On the next pitch, Vojak laid down a perfect bunt down the first base line, and reached on a hit, with Maxwell scoring to give the Tigers their 6-5 win.
Murphy led Edwardsville with two hits, while Karnes had a hit and drove home two runs. Vojak’s winning bunt was his only hit and RBI on the day, and Peterson’s dramatic homer was also his only hit and RBI. Baugh also had a hit and an RBI, while Hunt and May also had hits. Milburn started on the mound and went two innings, giving up no runs on four hits, walking none, and striking out two, while Hasquin also went for two innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, walking none, and fanning two. Andreas threw for two innings, allowing no runs on two hits, walking one, and striking out one. Wise faced only three batters, allowing three earned runs without a hit, walking all three batters he faced, and striking out one. Wampler pitched one inning and was credited with the win, not allowing a run or a hit, walking none, and fanning one.
Graham Vanausdoll led the Panthers with three hits and two RBIs, while Jude Jones had two hits, both Lamer and Maxeiner had a hit and an RBI each, Kribs, Hutchens, and Cheek all had hits, and Maddox Vanausdoll had an RBI. Jones started on the mound and went for four innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits, walking six and striking out two, while Graham Vanausdoll went the final 3.1 innings and was charged with the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits, walking three and fanning two.
Edwardsville is now 21-10, and finishes its regular season starting on Wednesday night against Rochester in a 6:30 p.m. start under the lights, concludes its home stand next Friday against Triad at 4:30 p.m., then finishes up on the road, playing at Springfield May 23 at 10 a.m., and at Waterloo in a Memorial Day special May 25 at 10 a.m.
