O'FALLON - Logan Hickman hit a dramatic two-out home run over the right field fence in the top of the ninth inning to give Alton a 3-2 win over O'Fallon in a key Southwestern Conference baseball game Tuesday afternoon at Blazier Field in O'Fallon.
The Redbirds won their seventh game in the last eight to go to 13-4 on the year, and are tied with Belleville West for first place in the conference at 3-0, a half-game ahead of 2-0 Edwardsville, while the Panthers are now 8-9 on the year, 0-3 in the league.
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Alton took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, with O'Fallon coming back to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. The Redbirds took the lead back in the fourth 2-1, with the Panthers equalizing in the bottom of the fifth, where the score stayed tied until Hickman's dramatic game-winning homer in the ninth.
Logan Bogard had two hits for Alton, with Hickman's home run being his only hit and RBI of the day, while Austin Rathgeb and Alex Siatos also had a hit and RBI each, and Deon Harrington also came up with a hit.
Reid Murray started on the mound, and went 6.1 innings for Alton, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits, walking nine, and striking out three. Hickman went the final 2.1 innings, giving up one hit, walking one, and fanning two.
The Panthers and Redbirds will play a rematch on Thursday at Redbirds Field, and then Alton will play a two-game series against Belleville East Apr. 16 and 18, the first game at home, and the return game at East. All games start at 4:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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