Staff photo by Jeremy Behnke Springfield’s Jason Berberich dusts himself off after sliding into third base with a bases-loaded triple in Tuesday’s victory over South Ridge in the Class A State Baseball quarterfinals at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.

ST. CLOUD — Late in Springfield’s state quarterfinal baseball game against South Ridge, it seemed like nobody was going to get Jason Berberich out.

Berberich had two triples late in the game, one in the seventh inning and one in the 10th. Although he was stranded at third in the seventh, he cleared the bases in the 10th as the No. 5 seed Tigers rolled to an 8-3 win over No. 4 seed South Ridge in 10 innings in the Class A State Baseball Quarterfinals at Faber Field in St. Cloud on Tuesday.

The win means the Tigers (19-7) will play the No. 1 seed Hayfield at 12 p.m. Wednesday at Joe Faber Field. If the Tigers win, they play at 10 a.m. on Friday for the state championship at Target Field and if they lose, they play at 5 p.m on Wednesday at Joe Faber Field for third place.

Berberich was 3 for 5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. He was seeing the ball well all day and it showed.

“There was a couple of times where it was pretty nerve-wracking, but overall I stayed pretty relaxed,” Berberich said. “When my time came up, I just stepped up to the plate and put the barrel on the ball. Honestly, I probably didn’t even know the bases were loaded, and to be honest, right before I hit that second triple, that was the most relaxed I’ve ever been at the plate.”

Tori Helget was credited with the win on his 19th birthday. He pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and four hits. He struck out five and walked two. It was a pretty good birthday present when he was able to celebrate with his teammates at the end of the long game.

“It’s awesome, I honestly can’t say much about it, we love the battles,” Helget said. “I don’t know how many one-run games we’ve had, but if we take it into 10 innings, we don’t give up, we love to play.”

Leonard was big once again as the starter. He went the first 4 1/3 innings, allowed four hits and one run. He struck out three and walked two.

Aaron Bennett took the loss for South Ridge. He went 1 1/3 innings and allowed five runs on five hits. South Ridge starter Jaxson Bennett struck out 14 in eight innings, allowing one run and three hits.

Buerkle and Batzlaff each had two hits for the Tigers.

What started out as a pitcher’s duel became a one-sided affair late. The Tigers, who trailed 1-0 after the first inning, tied it in the top of the sixth after Jakob Nachreiner scored on Dylan Batzlaff’s RBI single. The throw to try to get Batzlaff out at first pulled the first baseman’s foot off the bag and Nachreiner raced home to tie the game.

After Berberich tripled with one out in the seventh but was left stranded, the Tigers got a pair of runs in the ninth.

Brendon Buerkle doubled and pinch-runner Luke Boyle eventually scored the second run after Berberich had an infield dribbler in front of the plate that allowed Boyle to score. Berberich later stole second and scored on a double by Jakob Nachreiner for the 3-1 Springfield advantage.

South Ridge managed to tie the game in the ninth, but Springfield broke the game open in the 10th thanks in part to Berberich’s three-run triple that scored Mason Leonard, Buerkle and Helget.

At that point, the Tiger fans and the dugout was crazy.

“We’re senior dominated, we strive for big innings and big hits, we love the big moments, our coaches have said we live for it,” Helget said.