Photo by Jake McNeill/Marshall Independent New Ulm pitcher Blaine Olson prepares to deliver a pitch during the first round of the Section 2AAA Baseball Tournament on Wednesday American Legion Field in Marshall.

By Jake McNeill

jmcneill@marshallindependent.com

MARSHALL — An early pair of errors provided the Marshall baseball team all the run support it needed in its Section 2AAA tournament opener against New Ulm on Wednesday. The Tigers capitalized for five runs in the first two innings of the first-round postseason matchup to capture a 5-1 win over the Eagles at American Legion Field.

Kruse also started on the mound for Marshall in Thursday’s section tournament opener against New Ulm, tossing the full seven innings while striking out 11 batters. He held New Ulm to five hits and three walks for one unearned run.

A pair of first-inning errors by the Eagles. Leadoff batter Andrew Stelter was hit by a pitch to start the game and a pair of errors on a Josh Kraft grounder to short put the two runners on second and third with one out. Talan Plante drew a walk to load up the bases and a walk to Andrew Cowden forced in one run and a Kruse two-run double to the left-field wall gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Zachary Hubbard hit a leadoff triple to help the Eagles respond in the top of the second. Kruse struck out each of the next two batters to nearly get out of the inning, but a throw to Cowden drew him off the bag on the third out. He was still in position to get the out but Kaden Larson ran through the tag, jostling the ball loose to successfully reach base and drive in a run.

Any ground New Ulm made up in the top of the frame was quickly lost in the bottom. Stelter drilled a double into left field to get into scoring position. Levi Maeyaert hit another pitch into right-center field but a diving grab from Ethan Thompson limited Stelter to tag up and reach third base on the inning’s second out.

Still, Marshall kept coming. Josh Kraft singled into left to score Stelter, advanced on a Plante walk and scored himself on a Cowden line-drive single to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead.

Tanner Backer pitched the first 2 2/3 frames for the Eagles, surrendering four earned runs and one unearned on four hits and four walks. He also struck out four batters before being relieved in the middle of the third inning.

In a relief appearance, Blaine Olson pitched 3 1/3 scoreless frames for the Eagles. He shut down the Tiger offense, holding Marshall scoreless with just two hits and five walks. Yet, a lack of run support prevented his play from getting New Ulm back into the game.

While the Tigers maintained their early lead, their only hits after the second inning came in the fifth when Coby Brownlee walked and singles from Ashton Blomberg and Braeden Myhre loaded the bases with one out. Marshall also loaded the bases with one out in the sixth after drawing three walks. Yet, the two scoring opportunities combined to produce no runs after an infield fly and a fly out ended the fifth inning and a 6-4-3 double-play left the Tigers fruitless after their second scoring opportunity.

Hunter Larson singled twice for the Eagles, accounting for two of the team’s five hits and making him the only player in the game with multiple base hits.

Each of the Tigers’ six hits came from different batters, though Plante reached base a game-high three times, all on walks, while Cowden, Kruse, Kraft and Myhre each had a hit and a walk.

Marshall improves to 18-4 on the year with the win. They’ll look to keep rolling when they face off against second-seeded Mankato East in the section quarterfinals at Johnson/Mueller Park on Saturday at 11 a.m.

New Ulm drops to 6-12 with the loss and will look to salvage its season in the elimination bracket, where it will take on No. 7 Jordan on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Johnson Park.