Photo courtesy of Don Borstad New Ulm Cathedral’s Alex Hillesheim slides into second base in Tuesday’s Section 2A baseball playoff game at Mueller Park.

NEW ULM — For the second straight Section 2A playoff game, the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds paired a solid pitching performance together with a sold offense.

Mark Schommer scattered two Mankato Loyola hits and Cathedral bats pounded out 10 hits as the third-seeded Greyhounds had their way with the sixth-seeded Crusaders coming away with a 10-1 win at Mueller Park.

The righthanded Schommer fanned eight. The only two hits given up by the junior righthander came on a lead-off single by Matt Salzle in the third when the Crusaders tallied their only run — an unearned score — and a one-out base hit to Matt Murray in the fourth inning.

Murray took the loss for the Crusaders (17-5). The southpaw was charged with five runs in 1 1/3 innings.

Schommer also led the Greyhounds’ offense with three hits and two RBI. Josh Seidl added two hits.

Schommer, Aaron Portner and Tony Geiger each had a double.

Cathedral, now 14-3, hosts Sleepy Eye, an 11-3 winner over Springfield, in a game scheduled for 5 p.m Thursday, at either Mueller or Johnson Park.

In two section games, Cathedral has now scored 22 runs and totaled 25 hits. It has allowed four hits in two games and only one run.

“We had a nice combination today,” Cathedral head coach Bob Weier said. “Mark threw a good ballgame and he got stronger as the game went on. And we again got a nice lead early on.”

Cathedral jumped on Murray for four runs in the first inning.

Josh Seidl rapped a one-out single and raced home on Schommer’s double. Alex Hillesheim drew a walk with both runners moving up on a wild pitch. Portner doubled in Schommer with Hillesheim later scoring on a Sam Knowles’ groundout. Portner came in with the fourth run of the inning on another wild pitch.

“Getting that early lead like that means everyone can relax,” Weier said. “Our pitcher does not have to be pin-point perfect.”

The Greyhounds added three more runs in the second to essentially salt the game away.

Zach Helget drew a walk and swiped second. Nate Hauser walked before a Seidl groundout scored Helget.

Hauser came around to score on a Schommer single before a double steal had the Crusaders staring at a 7-0 deficit.

Loyola got its only run of the game in the third on a Cathedral error.

Hauser’s singled in the fourth and came around to score on a wild pitch.

A Geiger RBI double in the fifth and a Loyola error later in the inning closed out the scoring.

Weier said that he is happy with the way his team has stepped up in recent games.

“We have played well for a couple of weeks now,” he said as the Greyhounds won their ninth straight game. “I am happy with our defensive infield and today I was very happy with our defensive outfield.”