Trojans drop 2 close ones

FAIRFIELD — It was a tough two-day stretch for the Fairfield baseball team on Thursday and Friday. The Trojans played in two nail-biters, both of which landed on the wrong side of the coin.

  Buy Photo

The Trojans suffered a 7-6 walk off loss to Fort Madison in Southeast Conference play on Thursday. One night later, Fairfield saw a late rally fall short in a 6-5 defeat.

On Thursday, the Trojans and Bloodhounds went punch-for-punch for the first six innings of the ballgame. Both teams scored two runs in the first. Both scored three in the fifth, and both plated one in the sixth.

The Trojans, unfortunately, went scoreless in the top of the seventh, and Fort Madison made them pay, as one run slipped through in the bottom of the inning to help the Bloodhounds walk off.

Landon Nodurft went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI against the Bloodhounds. Dan Burkhart was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Caden Allison, Tallon Bates, Adien Westercamp and Aidan Kreuter each knocked in a run.

Kreuter had a decent night on the mound, but was hurt by errors. He gave up five runs (two earned) over five innings. Isaac Harris took the loss, giving up two earned runs in one frame.

It was a wild one on Friday, as neither Fairfield nor Moravia scored more than a run before the sixth inning. The Mohawks went into the sixth with a 1-0 lead.

  Buy Photo

The scoring really ramped up in the later innings, as both teams put together five runs in their final two at-bats.

The Trojans entered the seventh inning down 6-4 after Moravia broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh. Fairfield immediately threatened to tie or win the game, loading the bases with nobody out.

“We put some pressure on,” said Fairfield head coach Josh Allison. “We didn't fold.”

Nodurft came up in a high pressure situation but delivered with a no-out RBI walk, which brought home Harris to cut the Mohawks’ lead to 6-5.

Unfortunately, that’s all the Trojans would get. A fielder’s choice, a strikeout and a pop out ended the threat and Fairfield had to settle for another tough loss.

“Even though we didn't get the outcome we wanted, I think our process was there tonight,” Coach Allison said. “We made some adjustments with our swings late in the game, and I think that paid dividends for us.”

Nodurft led the team at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Bates and Cody Bilrson each had an RBI double as well, and Allison knocked one in.

Nate Conczal was tagged with the loss on the mound, giving up five runs (four earned) over 2.2 innings. Harris started the game, giving up just one earned run over 4.1 frames.

Fairfield is now 6-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play. The Trojans play first-place Burlington (4-5, 3-0) in a doubleheader on Monday.