BASEBALL: Warriors blank Murphy for 9th straight win

Alex Zimmerman allowed only two hits and a walk on the mound and the Warriors' bats took care of the rest, as Du Quoin Middle School shut out Murphysboro 10-0 in five innings on Thursday at The Ballpark at DHS.

"Our kids came to play today," said DMS head coach Tim Craft. "Our at bats were a lot better and our energy level was great. Alex got dialed in after the first inning and threw great."

Braeden Pursell doubled in the bottom of the first inning and scored on Slade West's base hit to put the Warriors on the board. Two innings later, a pair of Murphysboro errors allowed a run to cross the plate, making it 2-0 in favor of Du Quoin.

The Warriors broke it open in the bottom of the fourth as the first six batters reached base safely. After Trae Horn reached on an error and Tyler VanZandt was hit by a pitch, Nick Depyatic started a string of four consecutive Du Quoin hits with an RBI single. Brian Winters (double) and Zimmerman (single) also had RBIs in the five-run rally.

Winters picked up another RBI an inning later on a bases-loaded walk, then Pursell delivered the knockout blow with a two-run single to end the game in five.

"It was good to see the bottom of our lineup get on base and score some runs," Craft said. "Braeden Pursell really hit the ball well today."

Winters (1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B), Zimmerman (1-4, RBI), Pursell (3-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B), West (2-3, RBI), Horn (1-3), VanZandt (1-2, 2 R, HBP) and Depyatic (1-2, 2 R, RBI, BB) had Du Quoin's ten hits. Zimmerman struck out three Murphysboro hitters on the day.

The Warriors (12-1, 7-0 in conference play) play a makeup game at home with Chester on Friday, then are at Trico on Tuesday for the beginning of a three-game stint on the road.