Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Lauren Schmiesing singles in a run during the Eagles’ Section 2AA playoff game against Tri-City United on Thursday at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — For her first at-bat in a section tournament game, New Ulm freshman Lauren Schmiesing made it count.

Her RBI single in the second inning got the No. 1-seeded Eagles started on the way to a 7-0 win over eighth-seeded Tri-City United in a Section 2AA Softball Tournament game Thursday at New Ulm High School.

Sophomore pitcher Ramsey Hopp tossed a one-hitter also for the Eagles, who move on to Caswell Park in North Mankato for a 2 p.m. quarterfinals matchup with fourth-seeded Le Sueur-Henderson on Saturday.

Schmiesing ran for the Eagles last year, but she got her first section tournament start on Thursday and made an immediate impact. She made her other two plate appearances count also as she singled in another run in the fourth and was hit by a pitch in the sixth before scoring a run.

“It was just very exciting,” Schmiesing said. “My team behind me, they were just cheering us on and there’s just a lot of excitement with it, I think. … Just having my team cheering me on after that felt awesome just to be there in that position.”

Hopp carried a perfect game into the sixth before TCU’s Cristina Cruz spoiled it with a leadoff walk. After a strikeout and a sac bunt, Lexi Factor dropped down a bunt single to move a TCU pinch runner to third and take Hopp’s no-hitter away. On the bunt, however, the TCU runner rounded third before a throw over led to her being tagged out to end the top of the inning.

While she lost the perfect game, Hopp finished with an eight-strikeout shutout and, most importantly, a playoff win.

“I don’t think we really worry about the perfect game and what not until the game’s over, as long as it’s a win,” Hopp said. “And we have amazing defense to help with that, too, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”

Bryanna Aschenbrenner also had a nice day at the plate for the Eagles, going 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Kenzie Enter added an RBI double in the sixth.

TCU pitcher Adison Schroer took the loss in six innings of work, striking out four while allowing seven hits. It took the Eagles until the later innings to start putting hits together, but Hopp and the team’s error-free defense more than did their part.

After Schmiesing’s RBI single in the second, she singled to left to score pinch runner Hadley Batt in the fourth.

“I saw that she threw a lot of lower pitches, I would say more,” Schmiesing said. “For me at least, she would throw a lot of lower pitches and not a lot of high ones, which I like lower pitches personally, so that kind of helps a lot.”

The Eagles took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth after Maddie Backer bunted to score Enter, who reached on an error to lead off.

The Eagles made things difficult for TCU’s second baseman after a pair of back-to-back hard hit balls off the bat of Aschenbrenner and Berkley Wilfahrt found their way into right field. Aschenbrenner drove in two on her hit, while Wilfahrt drove in one for a 6-0 Eagles lead. Enter then doubled to center field to give the Eagles their 7-0 lead.

The Eagles were the No. 1 seed in the tourney last season also but were eliminated in the 2022 section finals by their 2 p.m. opponents this Saturday in the Giants, who were the No. 2 seed last year. The Eagles will be looking for payback Saturday in hopes of continuing their hunt for the section title.

“It’s a number that means a lot, but it’s also, you’ve got to win games,” Hopp said of being the top seed again this year. “It doesn’t really matter what seed you are, anybody can do it from any seed. So the seed, yes, is important, but you’ve got to win games.”

A win against LSH moves New Ulm to a 4 p.m. section semifinal game later in the day. A loss drops the Eagles to a 4 p.m. elimination bracket game Saturday.