Defensive woes plague Washington

WASHINGTON — Wednesday night was a tough outing at the ballpark for the Washington Demons baseball team.

In their first Southeast Conference matchup of the season, Washington was defeated by the defending SEC Champions Burlington in a doubleheader, 18-8 and 20-3.

It was a rough night on the defensive end for the Demons, as miscues were costly in the end.

Washington tallied five total errors and gifted the Grayhound 17 freebases in the opening game.

“We just weren’t prepared tonight,” Washington head coach TJ Rausch said. “That just falls back on me. I didn’t prepare our squad well enough.”

Washington showed poise in the first two innings.

Lucas Kroll got the Demons started off right on the hill, getting a pop up and strikeout on the first two batters.

A hit and hit by pitch later, Washington got out of the first inning with two runners on.

Kroll then delivered again at the plate picking up the Demons first hit of the game. Kole Williams then delivered with a double to deep right center to bring Matt Wolf, who ran for Kroll, home.

Washington held a 1-0 lead by the end of the first.

The Demons got out of the top of the second, going three up and three down. Washington had a single hit in the bottom of the second, but Ethan Patterson hit into a double play to end the inning.

Burlington began to click in the third.

After a Kroll strikeout and single, Burlington was able to take advantage of an error which moved runners to second and third.

Six batters later, a single, two walks and a double swung the game into the Grayhounds favor, 5-1.

Washington went three up and three down in the bottom of the third, and Burlington followed with another big inning in the fourth.

The Grayhounds scored an additional three runs, making it a 8-1 ballgame. The Demons gave Burlington five freebases in the inning.

“With our defense how it was, it made our pitchers have to throw more,” Rausch said. “When you throw more there’s more opportunities for walks and that stuff. Cleaning up the defensive side is the first thing. They pitched well. They had to pitch through a lot of adversity.”

In the bottom of the inning, Washington was able to get four runs back to cut the 8-1 deficit to 8-5, despite not recording a hit.

It was all for naught as the Grayhounds put together a pair of five run innings in the fifth and sixth to take sole control of the contest, despite three runs by Washington in the sixth, ending the game in the seventh.

Washington tallied just seven hits in the contest.

Williams did well in the box, going 2-4 with a pair of RBIs. Kroll had a pair of hits, 2-3, with an RBI. Luke Beenblossom went 2-2 at the plate with an RBI. Ethan Zieglowsky had one hit, 1-3, with an RBI as well.

Kroll was carded with the loss on the mound. He pitched for three innings, allowing three hits, eight runs (three earned), five walks and two strikeouts.

Luke Beenblossom pitched an inning. Tim Willits and Aden Six also threw on the hill.

In the second of the two games, it was all Burlington.

With Patterson on the mound for the Demons, Burlington rattled off four runs between the first and second innings.

On the contrary, the Demons couldn’t find an answer at the plate in the first two innings.

In the third, Burlington did even more damage. The Grayhounds brought 11 batters to the plate and dropped in a total of eight runs, bringing the deficit to 12-0.

The Demons got two runs back in the bottom of the inning with Williams drawing a walk with the bases loaded, bringing Beenblossom, who initially doubled, across the plate. Zieglowsky then grounded out to first, but was able to score Jacob Miller.

Washington would get one more run in the fifth inning, but the Demons were never able to stop the bleeding, as Burlington scored nine runs between the fourth and fifth to end the game.

It was another defensive struggle for the Demons, as they tallied seven total errors.

In game two, the Demons had just four hits.

Jacob Miller went 1-2 at the plate. Lucas Kroll went 1-3. Ethan Zieglowsky batted 1-3 with an RBI and Luke Beenblossom hit 1-2.

Patterson took the loss on the mound pitching 2.1 innings, with six hits, nine runs and four strikeouts. Austin Rebling and Avery Six also saw time on the hill as well.

“Tonight doesn’t dictate the rest of the season,” Rausch said. “The beauty about baseball is we have another opportunity to come back. We’re hoping to wash this bad taste out of our mouth and roll on.”

Washington drops to 1-3 overall with the loss, and 0-2 in SEC play.