That run ended up being the difference in the game as the Knights held on for a 1-0 win Friday.

The game was the first of a doubleheader that St. Mary’s swept with a 4-3 win in Game 2.

Game 1 was a pitchers’ dual between Sleepy Eye’s Winsten Nienhaus and St. Mary’s Mark Anderson for the majority of the game. But while Anderson was relieved by Helget in the sixth inning after surrendering only three hits, Nienhaus stuck in the game until the eight, giving up five hits, including the game winner, over the final two innings.

Helget got the win on the mound, pitching 2 1/3 innings in relief while allowing no hits and striking out one. Anderson collected eight strikeouts in the start.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye’s Cole Eckstein takes a lead off of second during a Tomahawk Conference baseball game against Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Friday at Sleepy Eye Ballpark.

At the plate for the Knights, Petermann and Brandon Schmitz were both 2 for 4, with Petermann scoring a run, while Helget had an RBI double.

Nienhaus was saddled with the loss for Sleepy Eye, striking out six while allowing nine hits and one earned run. At the plate, Nienhaus also had a hit and a stolen base, while Isaac Lendt and Carson Uecker collected a hit each.

After allowing a single to Schmitz in the first inning, Nienhaus and the Sleepy Eye defense recorded 10 straight outs, including a three-strikeout second frame. However, Anderson was displaying similar dominance for St. Mary’s, with only Caden Evers and Carson Uecker reaching scoring position in the first five innings.

Kessler Severson was the first to reach scoring position for the Knights on a double in the fifth, but a two-out fly out left him stranded there. Sleepy Eye threatened to score in the sixth when Lendt got third after a single, a bunt and a wild pitch, but Helget was brought in to clean up, getting a groundout to close the inning.

Neither team managed a run in seven innings, so the eighth inning started with Sleepy Eye on defense. While Nienhaus got two outs to start the inning, Petermann, Schmitz and Helget combined for three straight hits, including Helget’s RBI double. Cody Schultz came for a strikeout to end the inning, but the damage was done and Sleepy Eye could not respond with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Instead, Helget conducted a 1-2-3 inning to earn the win.

Schmitz took the mound in Game 2 for the Knights, pitching a complete game in their 4-3 win. Schmitz had four strikeouts and allowed three earned runs on 11 hits. At the plate for the Knights, Helget once again was the leader, going 2 for 2 with an RBI. Schmitz and Anderson each had an RBI in the game.

Lendt took the loss for Sleepy Eye, throwing six strikeouts and allowing two earned runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Austin Uecker led the team at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a run scored, while Schultz had a hit and two RBIs. Lendt also had an RBI in the game, while Kaden Klein and Gavin Strong each had two hits.

St. Mary’s will host Springfield on Monday. Sleepy Eye will travel to Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop on Monday.