MUNSTER | Scott Jerge's last pitching appearance was a two-inning start against New Haven on March 31.
He had since been experiencing arm tenderness and stayed off the mound all together. He was a designated hitter for two weeks and then played the field the last two.
The senior had no trouble performing Thursday as he allowed no earned runs in four innings to help the Mustangs beat Highland 11-1 in five innings of Northwest Crossroads Conference action.
"I was getting ahead of the hitters early on, and my fastball was moving a lot," Jerge said. "The wind helped that a lot.
"The first two innings I felt good, but the third and fourth I got tired."
Highland's first hitter of the third inning reached via error and scored, but that was the lone blemish as Jerge allowed just one hit and one walk to go with three strikeouts. He was on a strict pitch count.
"This was a signature win in the conference and a big bounce-back after the loss to Andrean," Jerge said.
Munster (9-7, 4-2) took advantage of five Highland errors, including one on the final play as Collin Mudroncik scored on a botched double play attempt to end the game early.
"We put the bat on the ball and took advantage of some things, and I'm happy about that," Munster coach Bob Shinkan said. "We've been struggling with that lately."
The Mustangs trailed 1-0 before they scored two runs in the third, four in the fourth and five in the fifth.
Mudroncik's two-run single in the fourth made the score 5-1, and Chris Slivka's two-run single made it 10-1.
"(On the basepaths) you've just got to keep your head up and be ready for everything and watch the coaches," said Munster leadoff hitter Craig Dedelow, who was 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
"Hitting is contagious, and we were just running all around the bases."
Highland (5-9, 2-4), which swept Munster last year, was beset by the lack of big hits and also made an excessive amount of defensive mistakes, from booted grounders to misplayed fly balls to errant throws.
"We gave them too many outs," Highland coach Dan Miller said. "We weren't focused to play a big rivalry like this. We lacked a lot of enthusiasm."
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