It was a battle of southpaws, with Columbia emerging victorious over Gibault in a cold, windy baseball contest Friday night at GCS Ballpark in Sauget.

Eagles starting pitcher Josh Fleming cooled down the Gibault bats, striking out 11 in six innings for a 4-0 Columbia victory. Brendan Wilhelm pitched the seventh. Together, they held the Hawks to just one hit.

Gibault starting pitcher Zach Neff took the loss, but pitched well in defeat. He struck out 10 Eagles over seven innings.

Columbia picked up its first run in the top of the third inning, and threatened again in the fifth before Gibault ended the threat. The Eagles scored again in the top of the sixth inning as a result of a two-base infield error.

Up 2-0 in the top of the seventh, the Eagles tacked on two more runs on a Zach Mathews triple that plated two.

Columbia improved to 6-3 with the win. Gibault dropped to 6-2 on the season.

For more on this game and a comprehensive recap of recent local high school baseball action, pick up the April 9 edition of the Republic-Times newspaper.

(with reporting from Alan Dooley)