Carlyle 8
Pinckneyville 6
Pinckneyville scored the first four runs of the game but we outscored 8-2 the rest of the way in an 8-6 loss to Carlyle Monday in nonconference baseball action.
“This was a game that we could see coming in warm-ups,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “With the dreary conditions, I don’t think some of the guys thought we would play today, and they carried that onto the field. With Bryant Shute’s big three-run home run, we established a nice lead, but then we started to give away at-bats carelessly. Then in the fourth, we gave them two unearned runs on three errors to let them right back into the game. There is a huge psychological difference between a 5-1 game and a 5-3 game. In the sixth, we put the tying run on third with an errant throw, then the wheels fell off. We still have to learn how to handle success. It seems that every time we start to have some success as a team, we take our foot off the accelerator and let everyone else catch back up.  Hopefully we can figure out how to compete before it is too late this season.”
Shute took the loss on the mound as he gave up eight runs on 10 hits while striking out six.
Shute, C. J. Opp and Brandon Long all had two hits in the loss.
Pinckneyville’s record dropped to 15-11 following the defeat.
Carterville 3
Chester 1
Carterville scored three unanswered runs to knock off Chester 3-1 Monday in nonconference action.
The Yellow Jackets scored the game’s first run with a lone tally in the top of the fourth inning.
Carterville responded with a run in the bottom half of the fourth and added two more in the fifth for the two-run win.
Zach Lochhead took the loss for Chester while Justin Eggemeyer was 1-for-3 in the game.
With the loss, Chester dropped to 6-20 on the season.
Marissa-Coulterville 14
New Athens 4
Marissa-Coulterville jumped out to a huge early lead and never looked back in a 14-4 win over New Athens Thursday to close out the conference campaign with a 9-1 record.
The Meteors scored five runs in the top of the first inning and four in the second. The team added another run in the fourth and four in the fifth for the five-inning win.
New Athens scored a run in the third and three in the fifth.
David Parkinson earned the easy win as he threw under three innings allowing one run on one hit while striking out four.
Kevin Galle drove in four runs for the Meteors while Parkinson drove home three. Other top performers for Marissa-Coulterville included Elijah Burton (1-for-3 with two RBIs), Casey Pitchford (2-for-3 with an RBI), Logan “Blue Glove” Tabor (3-for-3 with two RBIs) and Brett Gilley (1-for-2 with two RBIs).
With the win, Marissa-Coulterville improved to 21-4.
Murphysboro 5
Sparta 4
Murphysboro’s Dylan Craig drove in the winning run in the top of the 11th inning to lead his team past Sparta 5-4 Thursday.
Murphysboro scored the first four runs of the game with  a run in the first, one in the fourth and two in the fifth.
The Bulldogs exploded to score four runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game up at 4-4.
Josh Loyd had two RBIs to lead Sparta while Darious Jackson and Chris Theobald each had two hits and an RBI. Jordan Thompson pitched eight strong innings but did not factor into the decision. He also went 2-for-5 from the plate.
With the loss, Sparta fell to 11-9 on the season.
Freeburg 18
Red Bud 8
Freeburg cranked out 18 runs on 17 hits to cruise to an 18-8 win over Red Bud Thursday in Cahokia Conference action.
The loss eliminates Red Bud’s shot of claiming the conference outright but the Musketeers can still win a share of the title with a win over Columbia Wednesday.
Red Bud scored eight runs on 10 hits but were fighting from behind most of the game.
Freeburg scored four runs in the top of the second, three in the third, six in the fifth, four in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Red Bud scored a run in the first, a run in the second, four in the third and two in the fifth.
Stefan Gregson took the loss for the Musketeers giving up seven runs on six hits with three walks while striking out four over three innings of work.
Adam Kunkel led the Red Bud offense with a home run, two runs batted in and two runs scored. Tyler Magruder was 3-for-3 with a run batted in and Tommy Schwartz had a double and two runs batted in.
Pinckneyville 8
Waltonville 0
Drew Dudek tossed a one-hit shutout to lead Pinckneyville to an 8-0 win over Waltonville Thursday.
Dudek tossed all seven innings striking out 10 batters to notch his fourth win of the season.
“It was good to see us do a lot of little things today to be successful,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “It started with a nice outing from Drew Dudek on the mound, only giving up one hit. It was good to see our defense play cleanly behind him as well. Offensively, we didn't crush the ball, but we continually made solid contact and we did a very nice job of getting down bunts and playing small ball. We are starting to find other ways to manufacture runs rather than waiting on an extra-base hit, and that will be a necessity in the postseason.”
The Panthers scored a run in the bottom of the first inning, two in the third, four in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Matthew Nichols and Adam Barczewski each had two hits and two runs batted in to pace the Pinckneyville offense. Bryant Shute was 3-for-4 with a run batted in and two runs scored in the win.
The Panthers improved to 15-10 on the season with the victory.
Vienna 11
Trico 1
Vienna scored 11 runs on seven hits while taking advantage on three Trico errors for a five-inning 11-1 win Thursday.
The Trico offense scored one run on three hits.
Patrick Heller took the loss on the mound while Daron Meyerhoff went 1-for-2 with a run batted in. Heller was 2-for-2 in the loss.