The Knoch baseball team had little trouble getting two outs.

It was the pesky third out that gave the Knights fits.

Hampton plated seven of its 10 runs with two outs on the way to a 10-4 win over Knoch at Pullman Park Monday afternoon.

“We've talked all year about going up to the plate and having good, quality at-bats,” said Hampton coach Matt Torrence. “The last three or four games, we've started to take that approach and the bats have been coming alive.”

Hampton scored all three of its runs in the first inning with two outs.

Two of the runs scored on a costly throwing error.

“That first inning set the tone,” said Knoch coach George Bradley. “I'm not saying we would have won if we didn't throw that ball away, but ... I think we were a little intimidated by (Hampton). We're a young team. But this isn't fatal; not at all. We're still early in the season.”

Knoch (6-4, 4-1) responded with two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run, inside-the-park home run off the bat of Mac Megahan.

The line drive soared over the head of center fielder Cory Callan and rolled all the way to the fence about 420 feet from home plate.

Megahan wasted little time rounding the bases.

“I was thinking, ‘OK, cut three,'” Torrence said. “Then I looked up and he was rounding third already. He can run.”

Unfortunately for the Knights, that was as close as they got to the Talbots.

Hampton (5-4, 4-1) scored three more runs in the fourth inning with two outs, chasing Knoch starting pitcher Justin Grossman in the process.

The left-hander was not sharp Monday, walking three and giving up seven hits in just 3X\c innings of work.

“He was a little bit tight. I don't know what it was,” Bradley said of his starting pitcher. “Justin definitely wasn't intimidated, though. He's been through all of this before.”

Hampton had a good approach at the plate against Grossman, who as a left-hander is a bit unorthodox.

Grossman has good command of his off-speed pitches, which forced the Talbots to be extra patient.

“We've been working on staying back, seeing the ball deep in the zone and hitting line drives,” Torrence said. “That's what we did today. Our game is from gap to gap now. We're not going to hit home runs. We had 13 hits and I bet 10 of them were singles.”

Close. Eleven of them were singles. Ben Vey and Steve Dayton each had a double for the Talbots, who made solid contact against all three Knoch pitchers on the day.

Trailing 7-2, Knoch scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-run double from Zack Koller.

Hampton, though, added two runs in the sixth inning on Vey's double and a run in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Knoch had come into the game on a six-game winning streak after a forgettable first week of the season in which the Knights were outscored 30-11 in three losses.

“Oh, yes, things were pretty bad (that first week),” Bradley said. “They were terrible. I think what they learned today is they can play with these guys. They can play with anyone.”

Knoch is now in a three-way tie atop Section 4-AAA at 4-1 with Hampton and Mars.

“In this section — in most sections I have been involved with — if you can win four games in the first time through, you have a shot going into the second half because everyone sort of catches up with each other,” Bradley said. “It all kind of evens out.”

Hampton 300 312 1 — 10 13 1Knoch 200 020 0 — 4 8 2W: John Arnold 7IP (3K, 0BB).

L: Justin Grossman 3.2IP (1K, 3BB).

Hampton (5-4, 4-1): Cory Callan 2-1B RBI, Tom Radziminski 2-1B 2-RBI, Craig Nugent 3-1B RBI, Ben Vey 1B 2B 3-RBI, Ryan Gally 1B, Arnold 1B, Steve Dayton 2B, Cole McKinney 1B

Knoch (6-4, 4-1): Grossman 3-1B, Mac Megahan HR 1B 2-RBI, Zack Koller 2B 2-RBI, Coleb Thorn 1B, Gavin Miller 1B

Wednesday: Knoch at Kittanning