BASEBALL: Panthers pound Irish, hold off Foxes
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville hosted both Seneca and Hamilton County for baseball meetings on Wednesday and picked up a pair of wins to improved to 3-1 behind a 6-for-7 day at the plate by Matthew Nichols and 6 total runs batted in by Bryant Shute.
"We really came out and swung the bats well," said Panthers' head coach Alan Engelhardt. "I think that again, we got better today, which is the most important thing at this time of the season."
Shute (1-1) was also the winning pitcher in the 20-4 thumping of Seneca while Evan Chapman (1-0) picked up the victory in the 7-3 triumph over Hamilton County in the nightcap, which began around 7:35 p.m. at Rigdon Field in Pinckneyville.
The Irish manufactured a run in the top of the first before Shute's three-run homer in the bottom of the inning gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead.
Nichols, who was 4-for-4 and hit for the cycle in the Seneca game, blasted a home run in the second inning to make it 6-2, then Pinckneyville broke it open with an eight-spot in the third. Noah Hepp homered during the big inning for the Panthers.
The Panthers added six more runs in the sixth and finished with a total of 17 hits in the game by 9 different players.
Behind Nichols monster game, Shute drove in 4 runs in a 2-for-2 effort, also scoring 4 runs. Adam Barczewski was 3-for-3 with 3 driven in. Brandon Long and Evan Chapman also had multi-hit games, and Hepp, Marian Brammeier, Dylan Hardin and C.J. Opp also had hits against the Irish.
Shute threw two innings of relief, allowing 2 unearned runs on 2 hits and struck out 4. Hunter Queen started the game, lasting 2 innings and allowing 1 earned run. Taylor Beninati finished off the fifth inning with a scoreless frame, striking out a pair.
In the night game, the Panthers jumped on top 3-0 in the bottom of the first and never trailed in a 7-3 defeat of Hamilton County.
"We got outstanding pitching from Evan Chapman, solid defense behind him, and enough hitting to come through and win the game," Engelhardt said.
Nichols singled with one down in the first, then scored on a double by Shute, who scored on a wild pitch moments later. Barczewski walked, then scored on a wild pitch following a single by Brammeier giving Chapman a three-run cushion to work with.
The hurler didn't allow a hit until the fourth, when the Foxes threatened to get back into it with a pair of runs on a two-run homer to left.
The Panthers responded with runs in each of the next three innings, however, and Chapman shut the door and went the distance for his first victory of the season. The right hander allowed only 2 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), and 3 walks in the game and struck out 11 of the 26 batters he faced.
Nichols (2-3, R, RBI), Shute (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Brammeier (2-4) all had two hits against Hamilton County. Barczewski (1-2, 2 R), Opp (1-3, RBI) and Queen (1-2, 2R) also reached base with hits.
The baseball Panthers are at Murphysboro on Thursday (4:30 p.m.) and Carbondale on Friday (4:30 p.m.).