Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm Cathedral’s Colin Anderson ducks under a tag by Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Brandon Schmitz to steal third base in the first game of a Tomahawk Conference baseball doubleheader Tuesday at Sleepy Eye Baseball Park.

SLEEPY EYE — New Ulm Cathedral and Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s split a Tomahawk Conference Baseball doubleheader in St. Marys’ first day of baseball action this season Tuesday at Sleepy Eye Baseball Park.

Cathedral won the first game of the day 7-1, while the Knights won the second game 3-2.

Cathedral held St. Mary’s offense in check in the first game, allowing only a single hit. Franta got the win on the mound for the Greyhounds, getting five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Colin Anderson scored on all four of his plate appearances, recording a single, three walks and a stolen base along the way. Franta was 2 for 4 with three RBIs, while Luke Mielke was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Joey Schugel was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Mark Anderson took the loss for the Knights in Game 1, striking out seven while allowing five hits and three earned runs. Kameron Kosak got the team’s lone hit, while Talan Helget picked up an RBI and Tyler Mathiowetz scored a run. Jon Petermann drew three walks and stole three bases.

Mielke got the Greyhounds on the scoreboard in the first inning, driving in Colin Anderson with a single, getting around a three-strikeout inning by Mark Anderson. Colin Anderson scored again in the second after hitting a single and advancing to third on a wild pitch with some heads-up baserunning, then was driven in by a sacrifice fly by Franta to center field.

The Knights responded in the third after Tyler Mathiowetz and Petermann drew walks and advanced a base on a wild pitch. Helget grounded out to shortstop, but Tyler Mathiowetz was able to reach home in time for the score to make it a 2-1 game.

Neither team scored in the fourth inning, but Colin Anderson reached home once more in the fourth on a hard-hit grounder by Mielke that reached the outfield for a single.

Both teams switched pitchers in the later innings with the Greyhounds going to Jake Finstad in the fifth and the Knights using Helget in the sixth. Finstad didn’t allow a hit in his 2 2/3 innings pitched, and Helget saw a three-up, three-down inning in the sixth. However, Helget walked five and allowed a hit and four runs in the seventh, with Franta driving in two with a hit to left field. Finstad orchestrated a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game with a win for the Greyhounds.

St. Mary’s offense recovered in the second game, totaling seven hits in the game. Brandon Schmitz got the win for the Knights, getting nine strikeouts while allowing five hits and two earned runs in seven innings pitched. Merrick Mathiowetz was 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a double, while Schmitz, Helget and Mark Anderson each had a hit and a run scored.

Caleb Forstner took the loss for Cathedral, getting three strikeouts and allowing five hits and three earned runs in five innings pitched. Colin Anderson was 2 for 3, both doubles, with an RBI, while Franta had an RBI double.

St. Mary’s scored all their runs in the first inning, loading the bases with Schmitz, Helget, and Mark Anderson before Merrick Mathiowetz drove them all in with a double. Cathedral scored once in the fifth and once in the seventh but was unable to complete the Game 2 comeback.

Cathedral (2-1, 2-1) travels to Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart on Thursday. St. Mary’s (1-1, 1-1) travels to Springfield on Thursday.