Early inning offense by the opposition kept the Washington Demon baseball team (5-12 overall) at bay Monday evening. As heard on FM 106.1 and KCIIRadio.com, the Demons hosted the Keokuk Chiefs in a Southeast Conference doubleheader at Dick Sojka Memorial Field. The Chiefs scattered 18 runs between the two games, taking the doubleheader 7-3 in game one and 11-2 in game two.

Game one saw the Chiefs manufacture a seven-run lead, recording two runs in the first, adding another in the third, two more in the fifth, and two more runs in the seventh for a convincing lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Washington’s bats came alive in the final frame, platting three runs on three hits before falling to the Chiefs by a 7-3 margin.

The Chiefs strung together single runs in the first and second innings of game two for an early 2-0 advantage. Sophomore Dakota Kron led off the fourth inning with a walk, coming all the way around to score on an Aaron Vittetoe single to cut the deficit to one. Keokuk added another run in the top of the fifth before Washington responded with their final run of the night, scoring Blake Weidman on a series of past balls for a 3-2 deficit. The rest of the evening belonged to Keokuk, posting eight runs over the final two innings to widen the margin to 11-2.

The pair of losses drops Washington’s overall record to 5-12, and 4-8 in Southeast Conference play. The Demons return to the field on Wednesday, facing the Highland Huskies (11-5 overall) at Kernels Stadium in Cedar Rapids.