The Blackhawk baseball team can hit.

The Cougars came into their key section matchup Monday night against Knoch at Pullman Park with a team batting average well over .400.

They scored 26 runs in a game earlier this season and tallied 54 runs in their last three wins.

So why was Blackhawk coach Bob Amalia beside himself with shock when his team rolled up 16 runs in a 16-3 win over the Knights?

"You don't expect to hit (good pitchers) like that," Amalia said. "We didn't expect this. Our day was today. Theirs wasn't."

The offensive outburst was indeed nothing new for the Cougars, who came in averaging better than 10 runs per game and did nothing to sully that average against Knoch.

The Cougars (12-5, 8-2) have scored nine or more runs in 11 of their 12 wins.

"They did a good job hitting the ball," said Knoch coach Curt Schnur. "We didn't make the pitches. We didn't make the plays."

For a while, though, the game was close.

Cullen Hinderliter got the start for Knoch and pitched well at times.

But the right-hander struggled with his command, walking four in five innings of work.

He also struck out seven, including the side in the fourth inning on called third strikes, but saw his pitch count soar, forcing his exit at the end of the fifth, when the Knights were trailing 5-3.

But even without his best stuff or a command of it, Knoch was within striking distance when Hinderliter left the game.

"It was just an off day," Schnur said of Hinderliter. "They put the ball in play and made things happen."

Particularly in the sixth inning.

Knoch relief pitchers Nate Junk and Robert Zanella endured a nightmarish 11-run inning.

Blackhawk sent 15 batters to the plate, rapped out eight hits, including a triple and two doubles, and drew three walks in the marathon half-inning that lasted nearly 45 minutes.

The big blow came off the bat of the Cougars' Colin Loughner, who drove a pitch to the wall for a bases-loaded triple.

Loughner knocked in six runs and raised his season batting average to .540.

If that wasn't enough, Loughner was dominant on the mound, too.

The right-hander struck out nine in six innings, scattered six hits and raised his record to 7-0.

"He was dominant," Amalia said. "He's been dominant all year. He may be MVP of the whole (section)."

Andrew Wirtz was one of the few brights spots for Knoch at the plate. The senior singled, doubled and drove in two runs.

No. 9 hitter Marcus Cashell also had a good day for the Knights with a single, a double and two runs scored.

Blackhawk 014 00(11) x — 16 15 2Knoch 011 010 x — 3 6 2W: Colin Loughner 6 IP (9 K, 0 BB).

L: Cullen Hinderliter 5 IP (7 K, 4 BB)

Blackhawk (12-5, 8-2): Tim Denman 1B, 2-RBO; Greg Weatherly 3-1B, 2-RBI; Loughner 2-1B, 3B, 6-RBI; Brett Alberti 1B, 2B, RBI; Garrett Swanson 2-1B, 2B, 3-RBI

Knoch (10-6, 7-3): Andrew Wirtz 2B, 1B, 2-RBI; Marcus Cashell 1B, 2B, 2-R

Wednesday: Knoch at Highlands