Staff photo by Steve Muscatello Gibbon’s Brandon Kerling dives to home plate as New Ulm Brewers starting pitcher Nick Fischer catches the ball during Tomahawk East playoff action Tuesday at Johnson Park in New Ulm. For more photos of this event go to cu.nujournal.com

NEW ULM — The Gibbon Reds took advantage of four walks in the first three innings to score four runs and used that start to end the New Ulm Brewers season with a 5-2 amateur baseball win.

Trevor Loverude picked up the win for the Reds. He went five innings and allowed two runs on five hits.

Nick Fischer took the loss for the Brewers. He pitched 3 1/3 innings and was charged with four runs.

Tony Stadtherr led Gibbon with three hits and drove in three runs.

Andrew Peters had three hits for New Ulm.

Gibbon now enter Region 2C round robin play beginning Saturday.

“They have been a better team than us in these last three games,” Brewers’ manager Al Flor said. “They hit the ball. My credit to them for them. And it came down to pitching for us. We gave up too many walks and not enough key hits.”

The walks were one part of the game that hurt the Brewers.

In the second inning, Fischer walked Josh Berger with one out and then issued a two-out walk to Brandon Kerling.

Tony Stadtherr then laced a 1-2 Fischer pitch to left for an RBI single. Kerling scored one pitch later on a passed ball.

New Ulm cut the lead to 2-1 in the third when Peters tripled and scored on a J.T. Hoffmann sacrifice fly.

But the Reds took advantage of another walk in the fourth to score two more runs.

Fischer walked Berger for a second time. A stolen base and a Cody Nachreiner base hit placed runners on first and third with one out and ended Fischer’s night.

Adam Slander fanned Kerling before Berger scored on a double steal. Stadtherr followed with an RBI single for a 4-1 lead.

“We gave up four runs on three walks but that is just baseball,” Flor said.

New Ulm mounted a scoring threat in the fourth when it loaded the bases with two outs but Loverude fanned Zach More to end the threat.

The Brewers scored once in the fifth but had a chance for more runs. Peters and Hoffmann singled, That ended Loverude’s night as Jon DeRock took over. Peters later scored on a Wade French sacrifice fly.

“That has kind of been the thing for us in the last two games,” said Flor. “In our last two games we have chances to score a lot of runs.”

On Sunday, the Brewers had a 6-2 lead over Gibbon in the bottom of the ninth and Gibbon scored five runs to win it.

“I think that we felt some pressure tonight because of that. We had a plan coming in but we did not get enough key hits,” Flor said.