Behind a strong pitching performance from Beck Fern and some timely hitting from Cole Hayden and Christian Krogen, Pittsburg baseball improved to 6-10 on the season and 5-4 in the Southeast Kansas after winning 7-1 against Labette County on Tuesday night at historic Jaycee Ballpark.

Fern earned the win and he all0wed one run (unearned) on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks over the first 6 1/3 innings.

Fellow senior Cole Hayden came on for the last two outs, recorded on a game-ending 6-4-3 double play against Labette County's Keagan Nash.

The Grizzlies scored their lone run in the first, then the Purple Dragons plated two in the first, two in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

The Dragons bring a four-game winning streak into Thursday's home game against SEK League rival Independence. The Bulldogs are 12-6 and 6-3 SEK after splitting with Chanute in games played last Friday (12-2 win) and Tuesday (3-1 loss).

"Beck's our guy, we just want him to come out there and compete and keep a level head and he did so," Pittsburg baseball coach Troy Scribner said. "He pounded the zone and was efficient. Then, the biggest difference was that we played defense behind him. He's done great in the past, but we haven't held up our end of the bargain on defense and it's made him throw extra pitches and just created problems. Today, we played 'D' except for the first (inning), we played 'D' the whole game. We flew through that game just because our defense helped us."

Despite committing four errors, Pittsburg's defense held up relatively strong with only three strikeouts by Fern. Fern threw 75 pitches and Labette County starter Kegan Bates threw 105 in 1 1/3 fewer innings of work. Colton Ghering came on in the sixth.

The Dragons might need Fern down the road later this week.

"Beck was super efficient and that's only possible if you play defense because he's getting groundballs and we've got to make the play," Scribner said. "Today, we did. That makes my life as a coach way easier, keeping him under 100 pitches because that means I can use him this weekend when we play. He's less taxed and he has a easier time recovering. It makes a massive difference."

Pittsburg's schedule heats up with tournament games Friday and Saturday with Rock Creek and Andover Central and then games next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday against Independence, Labette County and Nevada, Mo.

The Dragons perennially seem to be playing a bunch of games to complete their regular season.

"We have Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then we have Sunday off and then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," Scribner said. "We've got a lot of games in the next 10 days. It would be great to keep Beck in the back pocket for a lot of those."

Hayden pitched in relief for the second game in a row, someone the Dragons had not been able to use on the mound until recently.

"Cole is finally healthy enough to get him on the mound," Scribner said. "I was worried that we weren't going to be able to use him as a pitcher all season. He seems to be doing better with his arm. If he's good with it, I'm going to throw him out there. He's dang good at pitching, so we need to use him if we can."

Hayden's two-run triple in the first and Krogen's RBI triple proved to be offensive highlights for the Dragons. Krogen finished with three runs scored, two hits and two RBI. Kash O'Brien also drove in two runs and Jeremiah Lattimer picked up an RBI single in the sixth.

"Our hitting has not been an issue all season," Scribner said. "We always hit the ball, we have good quality ABs and we've got Christian Krogen starting us off in the lineup, which helps a ton because that dude's a player."

Labette 100 000 0 — 1 3 1

Pittsburg 200 023 x — 7 7 4

Kegan Bates, Colton Ghering (6) and Kaiden Nash; Beck Fern, Cole Hayden (7) and Max Busch. W: Fern. L: Bates. 3B—PHS: Hayden, Christian Krogen.

This sports reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/fund/support-local-journalism-project-fund/