PITTSBURG — The Iola AA Indians dropped a pair of road matchups at Pittsburg Post 64 on Tuesday night.
It marked the first loss for the Indians (4-2) after opening the season winning the Kansas Senators Tournament in Topeka. Iola couldn’t mount a comeback big enough in the final innings of a 4-3 loss in game one before pitching woes hurt the Indians in an 11-9 loss in game two.
Game one — 4-3 loss
Trey Sommer started on the mound and was dominant through four innings, allowing only one run on seven hits.
Rogan Weir got Iola on the scoreboard first with an RBI double to left field for the 1-0 lead.
Pittsburg scored in the bottom of the third when Ethan Rhodes scored on a balk by Sommer to knot the game at 1-1.
When Pittsburg’s Tucker Akins singled to the pitcher in the bottom of the fifth it drove home Colin Hite for the 2-1 lead.
Sommer scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, tying the game at 2-2. 
Pittsburg went up for good in the bottom half of the inning when Hite singled to center to bring home Blaine Dunstan for the 4-2 lead.
The only other offense the Indians came up with was in the top of the seventh when Brandon McKarnin singled to right to plate Gavin Page for the one run deficit, 4-3.
Jack White was tagged with the loss on the mound for Iola after he tossed the final two innings and served up three runs on three hits with three walks.
Pittsburg’s Hunter Bennett was solid on the mound working all seven innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.
Game two — 11-9 loss
The nightcap was a heart wrencher after going up by six runs in the third inning just to watch it come crashing down.
The Patriots scored 10 runs in the bottom of the third to put an exclamation mark on their 11-9 victory in five innings. Tre Wilson and Sommer each drove in three runs but the third inning implosion defensively ultimately sunk the Indians.
Brandon McKarnin started on the mound for Iola and went two innings, allowing five runs on one hit with three strikeouts.
Sommer singled home the first run to start the game in the bottom of the first and take a 1-0 lead.
Pittsburg’s Akins grounded out to third base which brought home Rhodes for the 1-1 knotted score in the first.
