Dutchmen junior-to-be Matt Jett slides safely into second ahead of the throw from Linn’s catcher. Jett also caught a face full of dirt on his way into second base. Kevin Lay’s Summer Dutchmen baseball team will wrap up their schedule with a home doubleheader against Union Thursday (tomorrow) at Memorial Field with game one slated to start at 6 p.m.

However, Owensville’s Summer Dutchmen came out of the stretch with a 6-2 mark that included a second-place finish in the West Plains Tournament and a doubleheader sweep at home Monday night over Linn.

Owensville started their eight-game swing with a doubleheader against Washington’s Blue Jays at Dutzow Park. Washington defended their home field with a twinbill sweep of the Dutchmen by scores of 10-0 and 13-4.

Ryan Cooper started game one with a leadoff base hit. However, he was left stranded at third base as the final out of the inning was recorded.

Washington came to bat in the bottom of the first and plated six runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter to take a 6-0 lead into the second inning.

Blue Jay pitching did not allow another Dutchmen to reach base as Washington score a run in the second and three in the fifth inning to take game one by a 10-0 score in five innings.

In game two, Washington served as the visitors on the scoreboard and Owensville was the home team.

Washington took advantage of batting first by scoring four runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter. Owensville countered in the bottom of the first as Cooper and Kyle Bauer registered back-to-back two-out walks. Both runners were left on the basepads with the Blue Jays leading 4-0 after one inning.

Dutchmen starter Joel Littrell took the mound for Owensville against a potent Washington offense. The Blue Jays tacked on two runs on two hits and a hit batter in the second inning for a 6-0 lead. Littrell helped his own cause in the bottom of the second as he scored after getting hit by a pitch to cut Washington’s lead to 6-1.

Third-inning action started with the Blue Jays plating three more runs on to increase their lead to 9-1. Owensville continued to chip away in the bottom of the third as Cooper scored after singling to left field with one out. Bauer and Littrell also found the basepads in the inning but were left stranded with the Dutchmen trailing 9-2 after three innings.

Washington answered in the top of the fourth with two runs on two walks and a hit to break double digits with an 11-2 lead after four innings.

Scoring ceased until the bottom of the sixth inning when the latter part of the lineup delivered for Owensville. Kris Havelka and Tyler Ahring each walked and scored in the inning to cut the Blue Jay lead to 11-4 after six innings.

Walks also helped Washington as they score twice on two free passes to reclaim their nine-run lead at 13-4. Owensville couldn’t quite muster a seventh-inning rally as they fell in the nightcap to Washington.

Cooper led the Dutchmen hitting attack with three while Matt Jett, Hayden Brown and Bauer each recorded a base hit in game two.

Tournament action at West Plains began Friday with the Dutchmen facing the host squad in their first game.

West Plains ended up victorious by a 5-1 score after breaking a 1-1 tie with runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

Owensville scored their lone run when Littrell singled and scored in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1-1 at that point. After Littrell’s single, a single by Bauer in the seventh inning proved to be the only other base hit for the Dutchmen as Jett, Havelka and Alex Missey also reached the basepads on walks in the game.

Next up in the tournament for the Dutchmen was a familiar foe in Dixon. Owensville and Dixon each took one game of a doubleheader at Dixon early in the season.

During this matchup, it would be the Dutchmen coming out victorious by a 3-0 score behind a four-hit shutout from Brown that saw him strike out 11 batters.

Owensville got their offense started when Jett was hit by a pitch and scored in the bottom of the third inning.

Striking again in the fifth inning, Jett started the offense with a one-out walk and scored on a RBI double from Brown. Brown’s stay on the basepads was short as Cooper drove him in with another RBI double to pad the Dutchmen lead to 3-0.

Brown made the lead stand as he allowed three Benton base runners to reach the basepads throughout the game. He also helped his own cause with two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Dakota DeBroeck and Cooper also collected hits in the win for the Dutchmen.

Both teams squared off again and another Dutchmen stepped up with a shutout. In this affair, it was Cooper stepping with a four-hit shutout of Dixon by a 2-0 score. Owensville moved to 2-1 in the tournament with the victory.

DeBroeck started the offense for the Dutchmen as he singled and later scored on a Jett RBI single for a 1-0 lead after three innings.

Jett struck again as he walked and scored in the bottom of the sixth to give Owensville a crucial insurance tally and a 2-0 lead after six innings.

In Owensville’s second win over Dixon during the tournament, Jett, Cooper, Littrell and DeBroeck each has base hits in the game.

Owensville’s reward for two wins over Dixon was another shot at West Plains in the championship game of the tournament.

West Plains served as the visitors in the contest while the Dutchmen had the advantage of being the home team.

Scoring and baserunners were scarce until the top of the third when West Plains took advantage of a hit and a walk to take a 1-0 advantage. Missey became the first baserunner for the Dutchmen with a two-out walk in the bottom of the third. Missey was stranded on the bases as West Plains took a 1-0 lead after three innings.

After a scoreless fourth, West Plains got to Dutchmen pitching for six runs on two hits, two walks and three hit batters for a 7-0 lead. DeBroeck wound up being the first baserunner of the game for the Dutchmen as he reached on an error. However, he was left stranded as Owensville trailed 7-0 after five innings.

West Plains tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the sixth to increase their lead to 9-0. Missey led the bottom of the sixth off with a single and later scored to get Owensville on the board. Cooper also scored to pull the Dutchmen to within seven at 9-2 after six innings.

Despite a hit from Ahring and Missey getting hit by a pitch, a scoreless seventh inning gave the tournament championship to West Plains as the Dutchmen settled for second place.

After six straight games on the road, the Dutchmen returned to the friendly confines of Memorial Field for a doubleheader with Linn’s Wildcats Monday night. Owensville came away from the twinbill with a sweep by scores of 5-1 in game one and 17-8 in game two.

Linn struck first in game one with a run on one hit and two walks for a 1-0 lead after three innings. In relief of starter Chad Hopkins, Dutchmen reliever Nick Cuchetti pitched scoreless baseball to set up the awakening of Owensville’s offense.

Havelka started the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff single and later scored to tie the game at 1-1. Missey was hit by a pitch and Littrell followed by reaching on an error. Both scored to give the Dutchmen a 3-1 lead. Baserunners continued to pile up for Owensville as Cooper reached on a walk and Bauer followed with a two-out single. Both of them scored on a two-RBI double from DeBroeck to give the Dutchmen a 5-1 lead after five innings.

Cuchetti shut the door on Linn allowing just one base runner in the sixth and seventh innings to get the victory in game one. He allowed no runs on one hit with one walk, a hit batter and three strikeouts.

Bauer led the Dutchmen hitting attack in game one with two hits and a run scored.

Offense came early and often in game two as Linn and Owensville combined for 25 runs and 28 hits as the Dutchmen completed a sweep of Linn by a final score of 17-8.

Playing as the visitors in the nightcap, Owensville took advantage with six runs on seven hits in the top of the first for a quick 6-0 lead. Linn answered with four in the bottom of the first on three hits and three errors to trail 6-4 after one inning.

Owensville outscored Linn 3-2 in the second inning to increase their lead to 9-6 after two frames.

Third-inning action saw the Dutchmen tack on two tallies on three hits for an 11-6 lead after three inning as Linn went scoreless in their half of the third.

Offense kept on coming for the Dutchmen in the top of the fourth inning with four runs on five hits for a 15-6 lead. Linn fired back with two markers in the bottom of the fourth to trail 15-8 after four innings.

Two sixth-inning tallies for the Dutchmen ended the scoring as Owensville took the nightcap and the doubleheader with a 17-8 win.

Brown led the offensive assault for Owensville with four hits and four runs scored. Jett, Cooper and Bauer each had three hits and combined to score six runs.

Owensville will wrap up their summer schedule with a doubleheader at Memorial Field against Union on Thursday, June 28, with game one starting at 6 p.m.