BASEBALL: Panthers beat Okawville, but drop Saturday twinbill

Pinckneyville got win number two on the season at Okawville on Friday, but returned from a trip to Marshall County for a tournament with a pair of losses the following day to Graves County (KY) and Marshall.

The Panthers got strong performances on the mound by Justin Bauersachs and Jacob Louis on Friday at Okawville as PCHS picked up a 4-2 victory.

Bauersachs got the win with five innings on the hill, allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts. Louis notched the save, working the final two innings perfectly with three punch-outs.

The offense came early, with Louis driving in a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on a base hit after single by Tyler Rulevish and a double by Trent Hicks.

Clayton Houghland led off the top of the second with a double, then scored on a singl by Jackson Brand, who later came in on a two-out double by Nolan Luke, giving Pinckneyville a 4-1 lead after two.

Bauersachs got some help from his defense on a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the third to erase the final hit he allowed. An error led to an unearned tally against him in the fifth, but Louis slammed the door by retiring all six batters he faced.

Rulevish (1-4, R), Luke (1-4, RBI, 2B), Hicks (1-3, R, 2B), Louis (1-3, 2 RBI), Bauersachs (1-3), Houghland (1-2, R, 2B, SAC), Brand (1-3, RBI) and Adam Banach (1-3, 2B) hit safely for the Panthers against the Rockets.

Pinckneyville fell 8-1 to Graves Co., recording just two hits in the game, both by Bauersachs (2-2, BB). They were then hammered 15-0 in five innings by Marshall, getting just one hit - a fourth-inning single by Luke (1-2).

PCHS (2-2) will host Zion-Benton on Monday at Rigdon Field in Pinckneyville.