The Newton baseball team played the opener of Monday’s Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader against Oskaloosa without its regular starting lineup.
When the Cardinals’ full lineup returned to the field for the nightcap, the end results were much better, but Newton still suffered a sweep at the hands of the Indians.
Newton fell behind 8-0 to Oskaloosa in the opener and lost 14-1 in five innings. In the nightcap, Cardinal ace Connor Gholson slowed down the Indians offense, but Newton’s bats were held to three hits in a 3-1 loss.
“We just couldn’t hit the ball again,” Newton baseball coach Dustin Brisel said. “We had our chances in the second game. Connor threw well in that one, but we couldn’t catch a break at the plate.”
Brisel said the Cardinals had the bases loaded with one out in the sixth of game two but ended the inning with a double play.
The Indians led 3-0 at that point, and Newton’s run came in the sixth.
Brennan Dodd, Garrett Sturtz and Grant Nook all had one hit, and Drew Stout drew a walk. Nook scored the Cardinals’ run, while Gholson recorded the RBI.
The only other two Newton base runners came on Oskaloosa (18-6 overall, 10-5 in the LHC) errors.
Gholson held the Indians to six hits. All three runs he allowed were unearned, he did not walk a batter while striking out seven in seven innings.
The Cardinals (5-15, 2-11) recorded only two hits at the dish in the opener. Tyler Stanton singled, walked and scored team’s lone run in the second inning. Nook also singled and walked, while Keith Steinbach collected an RBI. Dodd and Jace Lukefahr both drew walks.
Stanton started on the hill but got just two outs in the first inning before being pulled in favor of Stout. Stanton took the loss after allowing eight runs — four earned — on seven hits. He walked one and hit two.
Stout tossed 3 2/3 innings. He allowed three earned runs on two hits. Stout did not walk a batter but hit five. Trevor Ergenbright got the final two outs of the game.
In the opener, Oskaloosa junior Ethan Arnold was 3-for-3 with a home run, three runs and three RBIs. Junior Bennett Spry also had three hits and scored three runs.
It was Oskaloosa’s fourth straight win. The Indians have now won five of their last six games.
The Cardinals have now lost 11 of their last 12 games. They play at Class 3A No. 2 Pella on Wednesday.