Knoxville 7  Chariton 1

Tuesday June 3, 2008

by Don French

An excellent pitching performance from senior Ben Meyers lead the Panthers to a 7-1 triumph over Chariton Tuesday evening in a non-conference game. Meyers allowed only five hits over six-plus innings and had a shoutout until two Knoxville errors allowed the Chargers to score their only run.

The Panthers managed only five hits for the game, but showed discipline at the plate to draw ten walks. KHS scored one run in the opening inning. Jesse Swanson blooped a single to left to drive in Zach Lenger, who had walked. Another run followed in the second when Meyers reached on an error and came in to score on Tyler Worrall's sacrifice fly.

Two more tallies followed in the fourth, when Nathan Hegwood and Worrall came around to score on another Chariton error, increasing Knoxville's edge to 4-0. The Panthers combined Chad Ball's single with a key throwing error, a fielder's choice groundout by Mike Jacks and a wild pitch to score three more in the fifth frame.

Swanson, Ball, Hegwood, Danny Lee and Aaron Todd each had one hit for the Panthers. Blake McWilliams took the mound in relief with the bases loaded in the seventh, but retired both batters he faced to end the game.

Knoxville improves to 4-5 overall with the win, including 3-1 in conference play. The Panthers return to LHC action Wednesday when they host Grinnell in a varsity twin-bill.