Mistakes undo Trojans in Monday doubleheader

A momentum-solidifying home run by Carson Remick was the beginning of a few gargantuan innings for Mount Pleasant during a doubleheader sweep of Fairfield Monday.

Remick?s two-run dinger in the nightcap presented Mount Pleasant with a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning, and the runs snowballed from there. The Panthers scored five more runs in the fifth inning and another nine in the sixth to earn a 19-2 rout over Fairfield. Mount Pleasant took a more modest 3-0 victory in the opener.

?Carson?s home run was like a snowball effect and everybody started hitting,? said Mount Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker. ?Before I knew it we were up 17 instead of eight, and most of that came with two outs so the boys were making [Fairfield] make plays.?

The wins are snowballing for Mount Pleasant (8-6, 3-1 SEC), as well. The Panthers have grabbed seven wins in their last eight games, while Fairfield (4-10-1, 2-4 SEC) finds itself going in the opposite direction riding a four-game losing streak.

Though Fairfield head coach Josh Allison saw plenty of positives in the first contest, it was hard to find much to be happy about after game two.

?Tonight was a tale of two completely different games,? said Allison. ?Game one we played great defense and pitched it really well. Game two was the complete opposite: We didn?t just have a flat tire, all four wheels came off at once.?

Fairfield?s undoing in game two following the Remick homer proved to be its defense and off-the-mark pitching.

In the final two innings alone, the Trojans committed five of their seven total errors and threw four wild pitches. The Panthers capitalized, scoring four times on wild pitches with all nine runs in the final inning unearned.

?When we play good defense and pitch like we have seen, we can play with a lot of teams, but we aren?t good enough to make a lot of mistakes and still hang in a ball game,? Allison said.

The Trojans scored first in the nightcap when a two-run bottom of the first inning put them up 2-0. Austin Gridley hit an RBI double and Joe Hietpas singled home Gridley later in the frame. Mount Pleasant took the lead for good in the fourth inning, however, when Alex O?Donnell and Devyn Broeker hit back-to-back RBI singles to go up 3-2.

?It was good to bounce back after trailing 2-0,? said Broeker. ?When you?re on the road you want to split, but when you?ve got a chance to get that sweep on the road it?s always nice.?

Remick, a sophomore, finished 3 for 5 with two RBI and the fifth-inning home run. Joey Vaughn went 4 for 4 with two RBI and Dustin Amos was 3 for 4 with another couple RBI. Tanner Stutzman scored four runs. Amos was the winning pitcher, improving to 2-2 on the season, with seven strikeouts in five innings.

Gridley accounted for two of Fairfield?s four hits in the nightcap.

In the very different opener, Mount Pleasant jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Ross Heitmeier doubled in two of the runs, and then Heitmeier scored the third run on a passed ball to give the Panthers all the lead they would need.

The two conference rivals couldn?t solve the opposing pitchers the rest of the way and kept the 3-0 score intact. Mount Pleasant winning pitcher Connor Shull had very few blemishes in his 6 1/3 innings, giving up three hits and four walks while striking out six. Fairfield?s Hietpas was equally masterful over his final six innings and allowed one earned run to go with five strikeouts in the loss.

?Joe pitched the baseball really well,? said Allison. ?The defense played well in game one, especially Brent [Buch] and Nik [Fitch] up the middle.?

Mount Pleasant?s Broeker finished 2 for 3 from the plate. Heitmeier, Jacob Miller, Ryan Schenk and Remick all had one hit apiece.

For Fairfield, Gridley, Josh Dimmitt, Kooper Dahlstrom and Spencer Peterman each tallied one hit.

Mount Pleasant looks to continue its recent surge with a home game against Albia Wednesday, while Fairfield visits Ottumwa in a makeup game.

Fairfield vs. Mount Pleasant (Game 1)

Mt. Pleasant ? 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 ? 3 6 0

Fairfield ? 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ? 0 4 2

FAIRFIELD ? J. Dimmitt 1-3; Gridley 1-3; Dahlstrom 1-3; Peterman 1-3

Pitching ? Hietpas (L) 7 INN, 3R, 1ER, 6H, 0BB, 5K

MOUNT PLEASANT ? Heitmeier 1-3, 2B, 2RBI; Broeker 2-3; Miller 1-3; Schenk 1-3; Remick 1-3, R; Vaughn R; Justin Dilks R

Pitching ? Shull (W, 2-3), 6 1/3 INN, 0R, 3H, 4BB, 6K; Jacob Dilks 2/3 INN, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 2K

Fairfield vs. Mount Pleasant (Game 2)

Mt. Pleasant ? 0 1 0 2 7 9 ? 19 16 1

Fairfield ? 2 0 0 0 0 0 ? 2 4 7

FAIRFIELD ? Ellis 1-2, R; Gridley 2-3, 2B, R, RBI; Hietpas 1-2, RBI

Pitching ? Gaumer (L) 4 INN, 7R, 5ER, 9H, 0BB, 2K; Peterman 1 INN, 4R, 3ER, 1H, 3BB, 3K; Deao 2/3 INN, 8R, 0ER, 4H, 1BB, 1K; Dahlstrom 1/3 INN

MOUNT PLEASANT ? Vaughn 4-4, 2RBI, 2R; Remick 3-5, HR, 2RBI, 2R; Amos 3-4, 2RBI, 2R; Stutzman 2-3, 4R; O?Donnell 2-3, 2B, 2RBI, 3R; Broeker 1-3, 2RBI, R; Schenk 1-3, 2R; Heitmeier 1-3; Engberg R

Pitching ? Amos (W, 2-2) 5 INN, 2R, 2ER, 4H, 0BB, 7K; Meyer 1 INN, 0R, 2BB, 1K