Batesville's Brayden Maple turned in a stellar performance on the mound Monday, leading the Bulldogs to a commanding 6-1 victory over visiting Rushville in EIAC baseball action. Maple went the distance, pitching a complete seven innings while allowing just one earned run on three hits and one walk, striking out three along the way.
Maple didn't just dominate on the mound—he also sparked the Bulldogs' offense. His single to center field opened the scoring, bringing Noah Weigel home. Rylan Yeager followed with a single to left field to drive Maple in, giving Batesville an early 2-0 lead.
Rushville responded in the top of the second inning when Grant Cameron singled to left field to score Josh Cowan, cutting the deficit to 2-1. But that was as close as the Lions would get.
Batesville kept the pressure on. Maple scored on a wild pitch in the third inning, and the Bulldogs added three more runs in the fourth. Breston Blessing's sacrifice fly brought Jake Schornick home, Weigel reached on an error that allowed Jackson Elston to score, and Tiago Batta crossed the plate on another wild pitch to make it 6-1.
The Bulldogs finished with seven hits, led by Maple and Yeager, who each recorded two singles and an RBI. Ronan Post, Carson Meyer, and Blessing each added a single, with Blessing also notching an RBI. Weigel chipped in with an RBI of his own.
For the Lions, Cameron led the way with a single and an RBI, while Abel Coon and Trent Smith each added singles. On the mound, Kaceik Lunsford took the loss, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing four earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out two. Casey Thompson threw 2.2 innings of relief, surrendering two hits and one walk.
In other EIAC action Monday, host Greensburg held a 5-4 lead through three innings against East Central before the Trojans rallied. East Central tied the game with a run in the fourth inning and took control with three runs in the fifth, securing an 8-5 victory.
East Central jumped out to a four-run lead in the top of the first, but Greensburg matched that output in the bottom of the inning. Patrick Robbins doubled to right field to score Colt McCalvin, Ethan Smith, and Hayden Ramsey, then Ethan Bishop drove Robbins in with a single to left field. Robbins added another RBI in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly that brought Ramsey home, giving Greensburg a brief 5-4 lead.
Offensively for Greensburg, Smith tripled, Robbins doubled and drove in four runs, and Bishop added a single and an RBI. Luke Hoeing took the loss, pitching 4.2 innings and allowing seven earned runs on six hits and seven walks while striking out four. Smith tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, walking two and striking out four.
Greensburg bounced back Tuesday with a dominant 12-2 win over Union County in six innings. Chance Richards started on the mound, pitching three innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits and six walks while striking out two. Patrick Robbins threw three innings of relief, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out one. Greensburg's offense featured three extra-base hits, including a home run and a double from Colt McCalvin, who drove in three runs, and a triple from Ethan Smith.