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Washington Evening Journal
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Trojans tripped up in battle between SEC leaders
Fairfield drops two games back after conference clash with Burlington
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
BURLINGTON — Fairfield and Burlington clashed Monday night in a pivotal Southeast Conference matchup at Community Field.
The evening proved tough for the Trojans, as the Grayhounds swept the doubleheader with wins of 9-8 and 10-3, gaining a commanding two-game lead atop the SEC standings.
In Game 1, Fairfield came out hot at the plate. Cason Miller got things started with an RBI double in the first inning, bringing Dayson Workman home for a quick 1-0 lead.
After Fairfield retired the Grayhounds in order, the Trojans poured on four more runs in the second. Voss Richardson singled in a run, Dain Burkhart followed with a two-RBI single, and Workman capped the frame with a sacrifice fly to center, giving Fairfield a 5-0 cushion.
But Burlington answered immediately, cutting the deficit to 5-4 in the bottom of the second. The Trojans responded in the third, as Workman came through again with a two-out, two-RBI single to extend the lead to 7-4. However, the Grayhounds wouldn’t stay down long, tying the game 7-7 with a three-run third inning.
Fairfield briefly reclaimed the lead in the fourth when Aiden Westercamp scored on a two-out RBI single by Ethan Bisgard, but Burlington surged ahead for good in the fifth. The Grayhounds plated two runs to take a 9-8 lead and held the Trojans scoreless the rest of the way.
Fairfield threatened in the sixth, getting Westercamp to third base, but couldn't bring him in. The Trojans went down in order in the seventh to close out Game 1.
Game 2 followed a similar script. Fairfield again jumped ahead early, with Archer Kreuter driving in Luke Konczal in the first and Westercamp adding another RBI in the third for a 2-0 lead. Burlington’s Caden Zaugg responded with a clutch two-out, two-RBI single to tie it in the bottom half of the third.
From there, the momentum shifted. Burlington took a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Burkhart briefly leveled the game with an RBI in the sixth, but the Grayhounds exploded for seven runs in the bottom half of the inning, sealing the 10-3 victory and the sweep.
With the pair of losses, Fairfield drops to 10-7 overall and 6-2 in SEC play. Burlington improves to 8-0 in the conference, taking control of the league standings.
