Mt. Pleasant baseball drops pair at Fort Madison

FORT MADISON - The Mt. Pleasant baseball team is no stranger to close Southeast Conference games, but the extra experience didn’t quite pay off on Thursday night.

In their eighth and ninth league games decided by three runs or less, the Panthers dropped two at Fort Madison, falling 5-3 and 4-3.

Mt. Pleasant lost the opener despite a big game from Lincoln Henriksen, who went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Jake Ensminger had a pair of hits as well, and both Carter Amos and Zerek Venghaus knocked in a run.

The Panthers and Bloodhounds went into extra innings in Game 2, much like the two teams did in Mt. Pleasant earlier this season.

Just over two weeks after Mt. Pleasant walked-off Fort Madison in the bottom of the ninth on May 31, the Bloodhounds got payback, as Kane Williams delivered a game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth.

Henriksen had another big performance in Game 2, collecting a pair of hits and knocking in three runs. Cooper Keldgord scored two of Mt. Pleasant’s three runs in the game, and Amos had two more hits.

Mt. Pleasant is now 5-11 overall and 4-8 in conference play. The Panthers will host rival Washington (4-10, 2-8) on Monday.