By Cheyne Reiter

Knights Earn First Victory in Denver, 10-9

On June 3, the Knights traveled to Denver for their second consecutive conference game. The Knights were in search of their first win on the year, after opening the season with three consecutive losses.

Thanks to some clutch hitting, the Knights did just that.

After falling behind 9-7 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Knights rallied for three runs in the sixth to take a 10-9 lead that would hold up for the Knights’ first victory.

Early on, the game seemed like hits would be a rarity. However, the Knights busted out with a five-run fourth inning to take a 5-0 advantage over the Titans. The Knights totaled four hits in the five run frame, with the biggest one coming off the bat of Trevor Rottinghaus, a two-RBI single.

Overall, the Knights offense had 11 hits, led by Will Crees, Chase Kruckemeyer, and Justin Clark who each had two apiece.

Brady Driscol picked up the win in 2 2/3 innings of relief of Union’s starter, Trevor Rottinghaus.

Knights Drop a Pair to No. 9 Waverly-Shell Rock

Coming off their first win of the year in Denver, a trip to Waverly would prove that there is still much room for improvement for the Union Knights.

The Knights dropped the first game of the doubleheader, 11-1 as they never led in the shortened five-inning affair. Union mustered up just five hits in the contest, as junior Nic Peters was the only Knight to record multiple hits.

Will Crees took the loss, as he struggled with his command against the potent Go-Hawks offense. Waverly-Shell Rock’s leadoff hitter reached in every inning and each time that hitter came around to score. A six run second inning by the Go-Hawks was enhanced by two walks, a hit batsman, and three errors by the Union defense. Before the Knights could catch their breath, they were buried in a 7-0 hole at the end of two innings.

Game two was a seesaw affair and the Knights, once again, came out on the wrong end of a 9-8 final.

Union scored in all but one inning, as the offense tallied 11 hits. Will Crees was one of four Knights with multiple hits, as his two-RBI triple in the top half of the sixth knotted the game at seven-all.

In the bottom half of the sixth, though, Waverly-Shell Rock rallied for two runs of their own to regain the lead, 9-7.

Union rallied with three hits in the top of the seventh. Justin Clark roped a two-out RBI single to right center to pull the Knights within one, but was thrown out at second trying to advance on the play.

Nic Peters took the loss, as he allowed nine runs, five earned, in 5 1/3 innings pitched.

Knights Suffer Walk-Off Defeat in Jesup, 5-4

On June 8th, the Knights were well on their way toward their second conference victory, entering the bottom of the seventh with a 4-3 advantage. Unfortunately, the Union defense opened the inning with an error, and just three batters later, Jesup was celebrating a walk-off win.

Following the error, Knights’ reliever Trevor Rottinghaus issued a walk to the next Jesup batter. With two runners on, the J-Hawks sacrificed them to second and third. A seeing-eye single to center field plated the two runners and, in the blink of an eye, the Knights saw their season record drop to 1-6 overall, 1-2 in conference play.

Freshmen Brady Driscol starred for Union at the plate, a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish to accompany a quality start on the mound, pitching six innings and allowing just three runs. Will Crees continued his hot start at the plate with a two-run double.