Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Glasgow hit back-to-back doubles to defeat Howard County rival Fayette 6-5 in walkoff fashion on John Donaldson Field Wednesday night.

It’s the second walkoff victory for Glasgow this season. The Jackets are also now the undisputed county champions after defeating New Franklin 3-0 six days prior.

“We beat a great team tonight,” said Glasgow coach Mick Cropp. “Andy is a really good baseball coach, and they have really good players.”

The win is Glasgow’s third straight and pushes the Jackets’ record to 4-1 overall.

Fayette drops to 1-7 overall. The Falcons won their season opener at Higbee but have since lost seven games in a row. Fayette coach Andy Oeth says his team is loaded with talent but hasn’t been able to unleash it.

“We’re locked up between our ears right now. We have to be unbridled in certain situations and be much more on the attack,” Oeth said.

He said continuing to watch strikes at the plate is hobbling his team, particularly in close games.

“Our biggest thing is the little things. The struggles we had tonight are the struggles we’ve had all season. Our plate approach is the biggest one. We still have too many strikeouts looking. If you love this game and you play it a lot, you’re going to strike out a lot. But striking out looking is a choice or a refusal for adjustment. I think the key to most of our woes the season has been watching strike three.”

After trailing by two runs after three innings, Fayette took advantage of some pitching issues in the fourth to pull ahead. But the Falcons couldn’t hold on, surrendering two runs in the bottom of the fourth to allow the Jackets to even the game at five runs apiece.

Glasgow starter Jackson Strodtman struggled to locate strikes from the mound. The senior right-hander walked six batters and gave up five runs (4 earned) off six hits with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.

Fayette seized the advantage in the top of the second. A leadoff walk issued to Falcon senior Kaleb Friebe turned into the first run of the game. Friebe advanced to second on a passed ball to move into scoring position. Sophomore Thad Quint then sent him home on a ground ball to give Fayette an early one-run lead.

Glasgow responded in the bottom of the inning with three runs while Fayette’s pitching wrestled with finding the zone. Friebe walked the first two Glasgow batters before giving up a one-out double by senior AJ Westhues. The fly ball to left scored junior Bronson Foster and senior Nathan Prentzler.

“It seemed like every time they pulled ahead, we responded right away. That’s the sign of a good team that’s resilient and tough-minded,” Cropp said about his starting nine.

The Jackets scored again before the end of the third on another timely base hit. With two outs, sophomore Blake Fuemmeler laid down his first of three hits on the night with a line drive to center to score Westhues from second.

The Falcons regained the lead with their best inning of the night in the top of the fourth. With one out, sophomore Parker LaValley walked and advanced to second on a single by senior Jacob Wood. Both would move into scoring position on a passed ball. Quint then drove in his second run of the day on a hard-hit ground ball to center.

An RBI-single by junior Payton Oeth drove home Wood to even the game at three all. Back-to-back walks by Strodtman allowed Fayette to pull ahead by one and brought about a pitching change. Left-handed senior Nathan Prentzler finished out the inning with a strikeout, but not before allowing the Falcons to go up 5-3 on a passed ball on the second pitch of the inning’s final at-bat.

Despite the yearly hiccup, Prentzler would go on to have a fantastic night, striking out seven batters in 3.1 innings on the mound.

“He can bring it. He’s got a nice tail on his two-seamer,” Cropp explained. “It looks like it’s coming into one spot, and all of a sudden, it’s not there anymore. He’s pretty effective with that.

“He and Jackson have been sort of 1A and 1B players the last two or three years. I have four pitchers I think I could throw with anybody out there. It makes it really nice to know you have a guy like Nathan to come in and back up Jackson. I was glad to see him get some more work tonight.”

Glasgow tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a single, a walk, a sacrifice fly, and two errors by the Falcons’ defense. Sophomore Jaden DeMint delivered the only hit in the half-inning, a bunt single to give the Jackets two runners on. A walk of Foster loaded the bases. A Fayette error on an infield fly allowed leadoff Hunter Hammons to score from third. Strodtman then sent a long fly ball to the outfield. LaValley made the out in deep center, but DeMint was able to tag up and score, tying the game at five runs each.

A Falcons’ pitching change in the fifth made short work of the middle of Glasgow’s order. The Jackets had one base runner courtesy of a walk, but sophomore Ledgyr Conrow induced a pop-out and struck out two of four batters faced to keep the game tied.

Neither team had more than one runner for the rest of the game. But consecutive extra-base hits in the bottom of the seventh broke the tie. With one out, junior Trivan Himmelberg hit a standup double to left. Fuemmeler then blasted a ground ball to left field to drive in the winning run.

“I don’t think our guys were as good as we’ve been this year. But good teams find ways to win,” Cropp said about his team’s late-inning victory. “We got some key hits. Blake Fuemmeler had a great game. He hit the ball hard all night long and came through with a big RBI double to win the game.”

Fuemmeler led the Glasgow hitters with three hits in four at-bats with three runs driven in. Two of those hits went for extra bases. Westhues and Himmelberg each finished with a double. Westhues drove in two runs and scored once. DeMint added two singles and scored a run.

Prentzler earned the win after pitching 3.1 shutout innings without giving up a hit. He retired seven batters on strikes and issued two walks.

The Falcons finished with six hits, driving in four of the team’s five runs. Quint had a multi-hit game with two RBI singles in three at-bats. Oeth went 2-for-4 with one RBI and a run scored. Senior Thomas Elliott delivered the team’s only extra-bases hit, a double in the top of the second. Wood finished with one single in four at-bats as the designated hitter.

Friebe finished with a no-decision after pitching the first four innings for Fayette. He struck out three but walked six, giving up five runs (3 earned) on four hits.

“I really thought Kaleb did a good job on the mound,” Oeth said about his starter. “He gave up a few runs but was always able to hone it back in.”

Friebe also made an outstanding play in the bottom of the first. Facing the Glasgow pitcher with two runners on, Strodtman sent a sharp pitch back at the mound. Friebe made the snag while protecting his face and hitting the dirt. He then made the throw to first to put out the runner and complete the game’s only double play.

“That was an incredible defensive play,” Oeth recalled. “The batter hit an absolute missile right back at Kaleb. I thought he got hit in the face. My heart came out of my chest. But he got his glove up and caught it. He hit the ground and just threw it over to Tommy and got the out.”

Conrow took the loss, giving up the winning run after pitching two-and-a-third innings. He struck out of 11 batters faced, walked one, and surrendered three hits.

The Falcons will try to regroup while facing escalating completion in the next three games of a four-game road streak. On Friday, they travel to former longtime Lewis & Clark Conference opponent Salisbury. On Tuesday, Fayette will face powerhouse Eugene. The Falcons travel to Slater on April 16 before returning home to face another dominant team, Westran, for their third game in three days on April 17.

Coach Oeth said Thursday’s practice would focus on a winning mentality for the Falcon nine. “I want to see them meet their full potential. There’s a lot of talent locked up deep inside right now.”

Glasgow ratchets up the competition with a game at Class 3 Carrollton on Friday.

“They’re a pretty good team,” Cropp said.

The Jackets return home on Monday to host eighth-ranked Cairo. They host Bevier on Tuesday. All games begin at 5 p.m.