BASEBALL: P'ville-DQ sweeps Carbondale, falls to Sparta

Posted June 26, 2015 11:00 pm

Doug Daniels

Pinckneyville-Du Quoin suffered a 7-5 home loss to Sparta on Thursday night in Senior American Legion baseball despite out-hitting Post 396 6-5.

Posts 2504 & 647 starting pitcher Tyler Rulevish took a no-hitter into the fourth inning, but had given up a run in each of the first three frames due to a combined six walks and hit batters to go along with three Sparta sacrifices.

Still, P-DQ led 4-3 after three, thanks to a three-run first inning that included two-out hits by Jacob Louis (single) and Dylan Carns (two-run double), and a solo homer by Jackson Brand in the bottom of the second.

Sparta got the lead in the top of the fourth on a pair of singles, a balk, a stolen base and a wild pitch. Post 396 led 5-4 until the top of the seventh, when they picked up two crucial insurance runs against relief pitcher Nolan Luke on a hit batter, two singles and two stolen bases.

Those runs rendered the one P-DQ picked up in the bottom of the seventh on Miles Chandler's RBI single to score Caleb Dahn (double) meaningless.

Chandler (1-4), Louis (1-3, R), Carns (1-3, 2 RBI, 2B), Dahn (2-3, R, 2B) and Brand (1-2, R, RBI, HR, SAC) had hits for 2504/647.

Pinckneyville-Du Quoin (4-6) travels to Herrin on Friday.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">P-DQ sweeps Carbondale (Wednesday):</span>

Superb - and efficient - pitching performances by Hayden Carter and Clayton Houghland carried 2504/647 to a doubleheader sweep of Carbondale on Wednesday.

Carter needed just 74 pitches in his seven-inning shutout in game one, allowing seven hits and striking out three in the 4-0 victory.

Rulevish (2-3, BB), Houghland (3-4), Louis (1-3), Luke (2-4) and Dustin Engelhardt (2-3) supplied the hits for Pinckneyville-Du Quoin in game one.

In the five-inning nightcap, Houghland threw 59 pitches and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits, a walk and a hit batter with three K's in 2504/647's 5-2 win.

Rulevish (1-2, BB), Houghland (1-2, SAC), Louis (1-2) and Engelhardt (1-2) had the hits for P-DQ in game two.