Washington baseball nipped by Chiefs

KEOKUK — The struggles continued for the Washington baseball team on Thursday night, as the Demons couldn’t put away Keokuk in a Southeast Conference battle.

Washington held a short-lived lead in the fourth inning, but three late runs by the Chiefs were the Demons’ undoing, as Keokuk ousted Washington 3-1.

Washington starter Conner Leyden had the Demons in position, as Keokuk was scoreless through three at-bats. The Demons scored the first run of the game when Caleb Zieglowsky knocked in Ethan Patterson in the top of the fourth.

That lead didn’t last very long, as Keokuk came right back in the bottom of the fourth and scored one, and the Chiefs broke that tie with a two-run bottom of the fifth.

The loss comes on the heels of an 0-2 day against the Chiefs in Washington on Monday. In one of those games, Keokuk broke a 4-4 tie with a nine-run seventh inning.

Patterson went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored in the loss. Isaac Vetter, Kael Williams and Noah Greiner all had hits.

Leyden pitched four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, two walks and one hit batter. He struck out three batters.

Luke Beenblossom was tagged with the loss after giving up one unearned run. Noah Greiner threw one shut out inning.

The Demons followed Thursday’s defeat up with an 8-5 loss at Williamsburg on Friday.

Washington is now 4-17 overall and 4-8 in SEC play. The Demons will try to pull off a couple of upsets at Burlington (14-13, 10-1) on Monday night.