BASEBALL: Brening burns Bulldogs with complete game, 4 RBIs

Du Quoin senior Levi Brening hurled a complete game on the mound, striking out twelve Bulldogs as the Indians got past Sparta 7-2 on Thursday afternoon at the Ballpark at DHS. Brening added a homer and four RBIs at the plate, and Ryne O'Rourke also went deep for the Indians.

"Levi was great on the mound," said Du Quoin head coach Tim Craft. "Got a couple of balls up early in the game, but really did a good job pitching with the lead. He also had a great day at the plate. Ryne put a charge into one and woke up our bats."

Sparta led 1-0 after back to back doubles in the top of the second innings before O'Rourke tied the game at a run apiece with his solo shot in the bottom half.

In the Indians' third inning, it was Brening's turn to go yard. Ethan Keller doubled with one out and Jacob Valier singled in front of a sacrifice fly by A.J. Smith before Brening crushed a fastball over the left field wall for a two-run shot and a 4-1 lead for Du Quoin. He later drove in two more runs on a base hit in the bottom of the fifth inning, when the Indians tacked on three insurance runs.

On the mound, the right-hander allowed just four hits and a hit batter while fanning a dozen hitters.

Keller (1-3, 2 R, 2B, BB), Valier (2-4, 2 R), Smith (1-2, R, RBI, SAC), Brening (2-3, R, 4 RBI, HR), O'Rourke (1-3, R, RBI, HR), Braden Lee (1-2, SAC) and Ashton Smith (2-3, 2B) had hits for the Indians.

"This was an important game for us," Craft said. "The win gets us back to 1-1 in the conference. Today was good to see after a tough loss on Monday (against Carterville).

DHS (6-5, 1-1) hosts Anna-Jonesboro on Monday before traveling to Nashville on Tuesday.