BASEBALL: Chapman, Panthers dominate Sparta

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Evan Chapman struck out the first seven hitters he faced and finished with thirteen Ks in a one-hit shutout of Sparta on Monday as the Panthers snapped their three-game losing streak with a 10-0 victory in five innings.

"We got a much needed great start from Evan Chapman today," said Pinckneyville head baseball coach Alan Engelhardt. "He did a great job jumping ahead of hitters and putting them into bad situations, striking out 13 of the 15 outs he got in his five innings."

"Offensively, we did our best job of the season hitting the ball the opposite way and up the middle. 7 of our 11 hits were either up the middle or the opposite way. That is making some progress, because if people are going to constantly throw us away, we have to be able to go with it."

C.J. Opp put the Panthers on top with a two-run single in the bottom of the first, and Pinckneyville never looked back. While Chapman cruised on the hill, PCHS jumped ahead 3-0 in the first, tacked on two in the second and fourth innings, then Noah Hepp cranked a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to end the game in walk-off fashion.

Opp (2-2, HBP, 2 RBI) and Joey Burris (2-3, R, 2 RBI) both had a pair of hits for the Panthers. Others hitting for Pinckneyville included Hepp (1-3, HR, 3 RBI), Chapman (1-3, R), Bryant Shute (1-2, BB, R, 2 RBI), Hunter Queen (1-3, 2 R), Luke Miller (1-1, BB, SAC, 2 R), Trent Hicks (1-3, R) and Nolan Luke (1-1, HBP, R).

"I was also really pleased to get hits from all nine hitters in our order," Engelhardt said. "We still have work to do with us making 3 outs on the base paths again, but this was a much better effort. The next thing you want to see is can we do it again? Can we find the consistency to be a good team?"

The Panthers (8-10, 2-6) host Red Bud on Wednesday and Murphysboro on Thursday before traveling to Nashville on Friday for a SIRR conference make-up game.