Junior Jacob Koch threw a three-hitter and Alex Castleman drove in four runs as the Houston Tigers throttled Thayer 12-1 in five innings Tuesday.
Koch struck out eight batters in the complete-game victory. He walked two and gave up one earned run.
Castleman, who missed Monday’s game with an illness, was 3-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Sterling Jackson had two hits and knocked in three runs.
Castleman and Jackson – who lead HHS with 19 RBIs apiece – had back-to-back RBI hits in the first inning. After Thayer scored its lone run in the second, the Tigers (13-6, 5-1 South Central Association) scored seven times in the second to pull away. Jackson had a two-run single during the rally.
Koch, who won his team-best sixth game, threw 46 of his 72 pitches for strikes. Fourteen of the 15 outs he recorded were strikeouts or groundouts.
Houston’s lone conference loss was a 9-5 defeat April 11 at Ava. The Bears are unbeaten in the SCA with one game remaining against Willow Springs. The Tigers’ final conference game is May 6 at Salem.
BOX SCORE
| Thayer | 010 | 00 | – | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Houston | 272 | 1x | – | 12 | 8 | 1 |
HOUSTON (ab-r-h-bi) – Cody Allen c 2-1-0-0. Connor Wilson ss 1-2-0-0. Alex Castleman 2b 3-2-3-4. Sterling Jackson 3-1-2-3. Hunter Stilley dh 2-0-0-1. Jacob Koch p 2-2-2-0. Braedin Groff 3b 2-1-0-0. Devin Wallander 1-1-1-1. Wiley Sisco cf 3-1-0-0. Totals 19-12-8-9.
2B: Castleman. 3B: Koch. SF: Stilley. SB: Wilson 2, Koch 2, Jackson, Sisco.
| HOUSTON | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Koch, W (6-1) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |