Prep Baseball
Alton doubled its fun in a nonconference twinbill with host Southwestern on Saturday.
The Redbirds got solid pitching and prevailed, 4-1 and 4-3.
Matt Hopkins struck for three hits and two RBIs in the one-run win as the Redbirds survived the Piasa Birds’ two-run seventh. Blake Lawson, Adam Keene and Andrew Fry all had two hits for 12-9 Southwestern. Fry hit a home run in the other game.
Now 14-9, Alton will tangle with Mount Vernon on Monday at GCS Ballpark in Sauget. The Redbirds resume Southwestern Conference action in a 4 p.m. home game Tuesday against 18-3 Edwardsville. The Tigers scored a 12-4 win over the Birds last Thursday at Tom Pile Field.
Roxana drops pair – The Shells lost to Waterloo Gibault, 8-6 and Freeburg, 9-1, in a pair of nonconference contests.
Blake Vandiver had three hits and Nelson Martz batted in three runs for the 9-10 Shells against Gibault. The winners used a four-run second inning and three-run seventh to secure the victory.
Freeburg outhit Roxana, 11-4, in its lopsided win. A five-run fifth inning turned a tight game into a one-sided affair.
Carrollton Cluster – The host Hawks went 2-0, defeating East Alton-Wood River, 6-5, and Springfield Lutheran, 20-3. The Oilers managed a split for the day by scoring an 11-9 verdict over Springfield Lutheran.
Prep Softball
Alton 5, Southwestern 3 – A three-run first inning carried the 12-7 Redbirds past the 7-10 Piasa Birds in nonconference competition.
Southwestern trailed 5-0 after five innings before tallying three times in the sixth.
College Baseball
SIUE 11-7, Morehead State 4-8 – By dividing a doubleheader on Saturday, the Cougars won two of three from Morehead State in Ohio Valley Conference play at Lee Field.
Civic Memorial High graduate Devin Caldwell was 2-for-4 with a fifth-inning home run for SIUE in the opener. Skyler Geissinger stroked three hits, including a pair of homers. Triad High grad Keaton Wright also contributed three hits and three RBIs.
SIUE is 12-12 in the OVC and 15-26 overall. Morehead State is 11-10 and 23-21.
College Softball
Murray State 5-7, SIUE 4-2 – Bowing twice, SIUE slipped to 16-5 in the OVC and 24-21 overall. The 10-inning defeat in the opener snapped the Cougars’ seven-game win streak in the OVC.
Host Murray State is 27-21 and 13-8. The Racers welcome the Cougars in a 1 p.m. Sunday to conclude the series.