A rivalry doubleheader took place at Dick Sojka Memorial Field on Thursday night, as the Demon baseball team welcomed Mount Pleasant to town and both teams came away with a split.

As heard on KCII, game one was a classic pitcher’s duel between both squads with Washington doing enough offensively in a 2-0 victory. Sophomore Lucas Kroll was masterful on the bump tossing five innings of no run ball giving up just two hits and striking out five. The Demons scratched across a run in the first on a RBI fielder’s choice by Trevor Quigley and the scenario repeated itself in the fifth when Brady Knutson did the same for an insurance tally. Knutson pitched the final two innings and worked out of a jam in the seventh to complete the six out save. The senior and Wilx Witthoft had the lone hits for the Demons. 

Head Coach Nathan Miller was complimentary of Kroll’s outing on the mound. “Lucas put in a ton of time in the offseason and it is showing. He really listened to what we were working on with him and he put some serious work in. For him to be so efficient tonight by throwing 71 pitches in five innings is tremendous. He showed poise when he got into a jam in the fifth and it never phased him.”

The nightcap started out prosperous for Washington, as they plated three runs in the first on the strength of back-to-back RBI doubles from Quigley and Reece Mayer. That 3-0 lead immediately vanished in the second when things went sideways defensively and the Panthers put up a crooked number of seven in the inning. They continued to add on a couple more in the fourth, sixth, and seventh en route to a 14-3 Mount Pleasant win. WACO senior Nik Coble posted a big game for the Panthers with six RBI including a three run home run and bases clearing double. Quigley recorded a pair of knocks and Luke Turner suffered the loss on the bump in three innings of work.

The Demons are now 2-1 on the young season and return to the diamond Monday in the official SEC opener against Fort Madison.