Fayette split in a pair of lopsided home games last week. Seven errors and only two hits compounded for a loss to area rival Harrisburg on Thursday, 13-2. The Falcons followed with a 17-2 win over Missouri Military Academy on Friday.

On Monday, Fayette defeated Paris 11-3 in conference road action to improve to 4-11 overall.

Harrisburg added another win to an already strong season to leave Estes Field with a 6-1 road record. After winning at Marceline 8-2 on Monday, the Bulldogs are 11-6 overall.

Thursday’s game marked the final Lewis & Clark Conference matchup between Fayette and Harrisburg. Both schools will leave after this season to help form a new conference next year, the Central State 8. It was the seventh-straight loss by Fayette to the Bulldogs dating back to 2019.

Harrisburg took advantage of two errors in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead. The Falcons opened the bottom of the inning with three straight baserunners, starting with a leadoff single by junior Kaleb Friebe. Thaddeus Quint then beat out the throw to first after a dropped third strike by the Harrisburg catcher. A five-pitch walk of sophomore Payton Oeth loaded the bases with no outs. 

Fayette’s cleanup hitter, Thomas Elliott, then delivered a line-drive single to right field to score Friebe from third. Quint then scored on an error by the Bulldogs’ right fielder to give Fayette a 2-1 lead after one inning.

But from there on, it was all Harrisburg. The Bulldogs tied the game on a single by Ike DeMuth in the top of the second. 

An RBI-double by senior Austin Starbuck in the top of the third plated the Bulldogs’ go-ahead run. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Starbuck later scored on a groundout from freshman Jayson Eskew.

The Bulldogs plated two more runs in the fourth before breaking the game wide open with seven runs on nine walks from Fayette sophomore reliever Ethan Bean and a Falcons’ error in the sixth inning to end the game after six frames.

Harrisburg right-handed junior Ike DeMuth earned the win after allowing just two unearned runs on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in a solid four innings. Starbuck and sophomore Hunter Caldwell each pitched one shutout inning in relief, with Starbuck striking out two of three batters faced.

The Bulldogs’ offense took advantage of Fayette’s pitching struggles, driving in 12 of 13 runs on only seven hits with 11 walks. DeMuth and Starbuck each doubled. DeMuth had the only multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Ott, Carter Bremer, Keagan Morris, Starbuck, and Caldwell each delivered one hit.

Unearned runs contributed to the uneven score. Only six of Harrisburg’s 13 runs were earned.

Oeth took the loss on the mound after surrendering six runs (4 earned) on seven hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Bean walked nine batters and struck out one over an inning’s work, allowing seven runs (2 earned). Friebe faced the final Harrisburg batter, inducing a ground out to get out of the sixth inning.

The Falcons reversed course on Friday, downing a struggling MMA battery. The box score was seemingly reversed from the day before, albeit slightly amplified. The Colonels committed nine errors and walked 14 Falcon batters over four innings.

“MMA is having a down year. They’re definitely different from the team that we saw last season when we traveled to Mexico,” said Fayette coach Andy Oeth. “There are a lot of really young players on that team, many of whom never played ball before. But they didn’t really quit against us. They worked really hard.”

Fayette took a four-run lead after one inning. Two walks and two errors turned into three Falcon runs. Fayette scored another run on a sacrifice fly by Caleb Craig and two more on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Friebe to go up 6-2.

Another run gave Fayette a 7-2 lead in the bottom of the second after Bean drove in Oeth with a two-out infield ground ball single. 

Nine walks and a hit batsman, aided by an error, a single, and a sacrifice, turned into nine runs for Fayette in the bottom of the third.

Leading 16-2 after three innings, the Falcons plated a final run in the fourth to end the game with a 15-run mercy rule. Freshman Sterling Hilgedick led off the inning and reached when he was hit by the first pitch of the at-bat. He advanced to third on consecutive walks to Bean and junior Jacob Wood to load the bases. Hilgedick then scored on a groundout by sophomore Austin Kunze to end the game with a 15-run win.

“We took advantage of opportunities both at a plate on the base paths and otherwise,” said Coach Oeth.

Friebe earned the win for Fayette, allowing just two unearned runs on one hit with four walks and four strikeouts in three complete innings on the mound. 

“Kaleb pitched and did a pretty good job,” said Coach Oeth. “He was able to do enough to keep us in the game and then keep their bats quiet. He was able to keep them in check, and we were able to capitalize off their pitchers.”

Elliott struck out two of five batters faced, allowing just one hit in the final inning of the game.

“Tommy came in after him and shut them down,” Coach Oeth said. “He threw a few pitches in there at the end and so was it just an exciting night for us. A lot of fun at the ballpark.”

Fayette only recorded two hits all game despite scoring 17 runs. Bean and Wood each recorded a single. Four batters were hit by pitches, and the Falcons walked 14 times.

“Their pitchers weren’t really able to find the strikes so much,” Coach Oeth said. “We only struck out twice the whole game. I was really happy with that. We just didn’t get opportunities to put the ball and play because of issues they had on pitching.

MMA is now 0-9 overall on the, with six games left in the regular season, five of which are against teams with winning records.

The Falcons added another win on Monday in their final L&C game against Paris, 11-3 on the road to improve to 4-11 overall.

Fayette was to play its second of three-straight games on Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press. The Falcons opened a three-game home stand against Jamestown at 5 p.m. On Wednesday, they host Marceline.

Next Tuesday, Fayette will conclude five decades in the Lewis & Clark Conference against Salisbury. It will mark the Falcons’ final home game of the season. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.