All Josh Stockert needed to do was find his bearings.

Once he did — game over.

Moniteau's senior right-hander struck out eight and threw just 54 pitches over the final five innings of the Warriors' 10-0 baseball victory over Union Wednesday at Pullman Park.

Stockert tossed a five-hit shutout. All of Union's hits were singles, four of them coming with two outs and no one on base.

“Josh is so economical with his pitches,” Moniteau coach Ross Martin said. “He doesn't waste any effort on the mound and he works quickly.

“The fielders behind him appreciate that kind of pitching. We preach to all of our pitchers to keep the game moving.”

Stockert threw 22 pitches in the first inning. He threw 13 total ptches over the next two frames.

“That was just one of those innings,” Stockert said of the opening frame. “I just missed on a couple of pitches and got into a little trouble.

“I throw a two-seam and four-seam fastball. I mix in an occasional curve, but not much. Mainly, I just want to hit my spots. If I do that, I'm effective.”

A two-out single by Kane McCall and walk to Kaden McGregor gave the Golden Knights two baserunners for the only time all day. Brandon Stitt hit a tapper in front of the plate for the final out of the inning.

Union dropped its third straight game after a 7-2 start to the season. The Golden Knights committed five errors Wednesday.

“Our defense was atrocious,” Union coach Doug Kriebel said. “I don't think we pitched that badly, but we sure didn't help ourselves.

“We're dealing with young kids here and confidence can be a problem. I hope they believe they can still play the game because this is the wrong time of year to think otherwise.”

Confidence is no problem for the Warriors these days.

Moniteau has won five straight games, played errorless ball behind Stockert and banged out 11 hits Wednesday. Those hits were spread out among seven players.

“From top to bottom, we're hitting now and we're getting hits at the right times,” Martin said.

After Colt Cumberland reached on an error with one out in the first, Stockert drilled a RBI triple to deep left and scored himself when the relay from the outfield got away.

Moniteau scored three times in the fourth — Cumberland and Zach Dibiase collecting RBI singles — and ended the game via the 10-run rule with three runs in the sixth.

Kyle Armagost scored three runs for the Warriors while Josh McBride, Cumberland, Joe Holfelder and Dibiase had two singles each.

“Injuries, sickness ... We had a rash of things going on for a while, but we've got everybody back now and we're playing well together,” Martin said. “Hopefully, we'll keep this up.”

Union 000 000 x — 0 5 5Moniteau 201 313 x — 10 11 0W: Josh Stockert 6IP (8K, 1BB).

L: Brandon Stitt 4IP (3K, 3BB).

Union (7-5): Taylor Smith 1B, Kane McCall 1B, Kaden McGregor 1B, Brandon Stitt 1B, Brett Trithart 1B

Moniteau (9-6): Josh McBride 2-1B, Colt Cumberland 2-1B 2-RBI 2-R, Josh Stockert 3B RBI, Kyle Armagost 1B 3-R, Joe Holfelder 2-1B, Zach Dibiase 2-1B RBI, Austin Blauser 1B RBI, David Campbell RBI, Trent Young RBI

Today: West Forest at Union

Monday: Keystone vs. Moniteau, Pullman Park