Pitching pushes Demons to sweep

A pair of strong pitching performances highlighted a big night for the Washington baseball team on Friday night.

The Demons had strong games from both their starters in a home doubleheader against Fort Madison, and took the conference sweep over the Bloodhounds.

?We really had two excellent pitching performances from Tanner Coleman and Zach Londberg,? Washington baseball head coach Nathan Miller said. ?Tanner had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning, and Zach had a similar thing going through his outing. The key was getting strike one. We kept them off-balance.?

The duo combined for 11 strong innings on Friday night, as Coleman pitched five innings of three-hit ball in an 11-0 victory, while Londberg notched seven strikeouts in an 11-1 victory in six innings.

The wins push Washington to 4-1 and 2-0 in conference play.

?The big difference I see from last year to this year is that, yes, we did get a couple of wins with this team last year, but they were tight victories,? Miller said. ?This year, the confidence these kids are playing with is quite a bit different than last year. You can see it on the field. Mentally they are able to handle the adversity better this year.?

In the 11-0 victory to open the day, the Demons struck early, posting 10 runs through the first two innings, with three Demons earning three RBIs in the contest.

Colin Zear notched three hits, two runs scored and three RBIs in the game, while Ryan Loy and Londberg each went 1-for-3 with three RBIs in the contest.

Michael Gier also notched two hits, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

?It hasn?t been one guy we are counting on through these first five games,? Miller said. ?We are a very deep team, which means some people might have to sit on some nights. It?s not an emotion thing, but when you have a deep team, to maintain rhythm and cohesiveness, you have to platoon some things.?

In the second game, Londberg took the mound and continued off Coleman?s success, using 69 pitches to get through six innings and only walk one.

The Demon offense was once again alive as four Demons recorded two RBIs in the contest.

Londberg added two more to his night, while Loy, Bryce Craff and Zear each notched a pair of runs in, while Loy, Zear and senior Michael Ellingson each scored a pair of runs to help Washington to a win.

?We?ve been really hammering some little things like being able to bunt,? Miller said. ?Some people view bunting as an easy out or just a way to advance the runners, but we have so much team speed this year that we?ve been working on our small-ball game. We put a lot of pressure on them early in the game, and that puts them on their heels.?

The Demons will have a pair of doubleheaders this week, traveling to Louisa-Muscatine on Tuesday night, before facing Fairfield in a pair of games on Thursday.

?This is going to be a test of our pitching depth,? Miller said. ?The second game we threw against Clear Creek, we didn?t get ahead of batters and walked 10 guys. The focus for (Tuesday night) is to throw the young guys. We are looking for them to look more settled and confident.?

Tuesday?s doubleheaders will begin at 5:30 p.m.