EDWARDSVILLE - Hunter Baugh led the way for Edwardsville with two hits and two RBIs, but it wasn't enough, as Chatham Glenwood scored four unanswered runs in the middle three innings to come away with a 5-2 win over the Tigers and the championship of the Tiger Classic round robin tournament Saturday afternoon, May 9, 2026, at Tom Pie Field.
The game got off to a late start because heavy rain made the field wet, pushing back the start time of the earlier game in order for the field to dry out.
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It was still a successful weekend for Edwardsville, which took two of the three games in the tournament, defeating Teutopolis 8-3 on Friday and Highland 7-1 earlier on Saturday.
"We faced some good teams in this tournament," said Edwardsville head coach Tim Funkhouser. "It's always a good test, and it teaches our guys a lot of different things. What with our game yesterday against (Teutopolis), getting down three early on, and their pitcher being able to pitch the way he was. For us to rally, it showed a lot about our team, and really, guys throughout the order fought and took their at-bats, after not being able to accomplish it early on.
"That was a huge win for us. Today, we were able to keep fighting through the Highland game. I felt like we were hitting the ball pretty well, but we weren't just pushing runs across. We hopefully would have exploded for more runs there. This game, credit their pitching staff. Their pitching staff did a great job; I love the way Chatham plays as well.
"They play fundamental baseball, and they're ballplayers. That's why we play those teams, and we weren't able to get some runners in scoring position, or just make that swing. We've got to continue and get better on positive counts, 2-0, 3-0, or 3-1. We made a lot of first pitch outs, too. We need to get better at that stuff, and I think we'll continue to work on it. You're starting to see that growth come into action, but it was a fun weekend of baseball."
Although the Tigers' eight-game winning streak ended at the hands of the Titans, Edwardsville is still in a very good position overall, but Funkhouser isn't concerned with winning streaks so much as he is about his club's overall performances.
"I probably wasn't counting the winning streak," Funkhouser said, "it's just get out there and play the best ball we can play. Our guys, we've battle-tested them throughout, so they've continued to answer the bell. I thought Andrew McKey threw great in this game, and our guys really threw well in the previous game, too. Today, we spent a long day out here.
"With the way the weather was overnight, the field took a long time to dry out. So, it was a long day for the participating teams. I was out here at 6 a.m., checking on the field, and it took a while for the sun to pop out, and really make a difference on our field. Our guys like playing baseball, and getting better each day. They like each other and competing, so we'll look forward to practice on Monday, and getting back after the (Southwestern) conference on Tuesday."
After both sides were retired in order in the first, Glenwood opened the scoring in the second, as Tucker Murphy singled and Dylan Huff drew a walk to put runners on first and second. After a pair of infield fly outs, Henry Rose stroked an RBI single to left, scoring Murphy and giving the Titans the lead at 1-0. Edwardsville took the lead in the home half of the third, starting with a one-out single by Sutton Leas, with courtesy runner Rhus Gierich going to second on a ground out. Gierich went to third when the shortstop dropped a pickoff throw from the catcher to second, Andrew McCutchen walked, and Baugh doubled both runners home to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Huff was hit by a pitch to start the Glenwood fourth, and one out later, Cole Woodward homered over the left-center field fence, scoring Huff ahead of him, and giving the Titans the lead at 3-2. The next inning, Michael Lucas singled to lead off, went to second on a passed ball, stole third, and came in on Colton Knoedler's sacrifice fly to left to up the lead to 4-2. In the top of the sixth, Huff singled to lead off, then stole second, and upon a Woodward base hit, scored when the catcher dropped the throw for an error. Woodward went to second on another error, with the Titans going up 5-2.
The Tigers did have a chance in the bottom of the sixth, with singles by Tyson Wampler and Nick Chiarodo, but a strikeout and flyout ended the inning. Edwardsville was retired in the seventh to give Glenwood the win 5-2.
Baugh led the Tigers with his two hits and two RBIs, the only ones in the game for Edwardsville, while Wampler, Chiarodo, and Zane Maxwell also had hits. McKey started on the mound and was charged with the loss, going 3.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits, walking one and striking out two. Wampler pitched 2.1 innings, giving up two runs, one earned, on three hits, walking or striking out none, and Ty Hunt pitched in the seventh, allowing only one hit while fanning one.
Glenwood is now 19-5, while the Tigers go to 18-9, and will meet Collinsville in their final Southwestern Conference series of the season, playing Tuesday at Woodland Park, with the return game set for Thursday at Tom Pile Field. In between, Edwardsville will play at Columbia on Wednesday, all with games starting at 4:30 p.m.
