Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Aiden Eckberg celebrates his two-run single at first base during the fourth inning of Friday’s nonconference baseball game against Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s at Mueller Park.

NEW ULM — For hitting out of the No. 9 spot, sophomore Aiden Eckberg made all the difference for Minnesota Valley Lutheran on Friday at Mueller Park.

Eckberg’s two-run single to right broke a 1-1 tie and put the Chargers in front of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s on the way to a 5-1 win in a nonconference baseball game.

Locked in a pitchers’ duel in the fourth inning, the Chargers got a break to start the bottom of the inning when Jensen Gerdts was hit by a pitch by Knights starting righty Talan Helget. A sac bunt by Josh Carlovsky moved Gerdts to second before walks to Kyan Kube and Jacob Kramer filled the bases. Helget got a flyout to bring up Eckberg, whose first-pitch swinging approach to his at-bat led to a two-run single into right to put MVL up 3-1. A wild pitch later scored Kramer for a 4-1 MVL lead after four.

“I was just looking first-pitch fastball,” Eckberg said. “I don’t know, I just kind of trust the work I put in, other than that just hoping God would help me get a hit. Just trusted my bat.”

Helget took the loss in four innings with seven strikeouts and three earned runs allowed on two hits and three walks.

“He also pitched Monday, so we brought him back on minimal rest and he did a great job,” Knights head coach Bruce Woitas said of Helget. “He winded up hitting a guy, walked two and almost got out of the inning and their nine hitter gets a hit. So Talan pitched great, their pitcher didn’t give us any free bases and they got the clutch hits. We didn’t get many oportunities to score and that’s how baseball is.”

MVL’s big righty Josh Vander Plas finished his complete-game effort by allowing six hits and no walks for one earned run while striking out seven.

The Knights also committed three errors in the game, while the Chargers played error-free baseball.

The Chargers had to be on their game in every area after losing their leadoff hitter Connor Bode for the season due to injury. Friday they got a complete game from more than just Vander Plas.

“We talked about how you have to play clean baseball at the beginning and that was the biggest thing,” MVL head coach Jim Buboltz said. “Clean baseball and knowing Josh, I still think the thing that I’m so impressed with him and Kaden [Peterson] this year is how efficient they are. Today again, 75 pitches in seven innings, that’s amazing stuff. No walks, no errors, just innings go faster, guys stay involved and I think that helps us playing defense, too.”

Peterson, hitting leadoff, started the game by reaching on a big triple to right, but Helget got back-to-back strikeouts to leave the Chargers an out away from spoiling Peterson’s triple. A throwing error to first from shortstop, however, allowed Gerdts to reach safely and score Peterson for a 1-0 lead.

The Knights got that run back in the third when Helget collected his second of two singles in the game and scored on a two-out RBI single by Merrick Mathiowetz. Helget and Landry Folkens led the Knights by each going 2 for 3 at the plate.

After Eckberg’s big two-run single in the fourth and the wild pitch to score Kramer, MVL threatened again in the fifth off Knights reliever Wyatt Pollard. After Pollard allowed Vander Plas on with a walk and Carlovsky on with a single, however, Tyler Mathiowetz had back-to-back catches in center field to end the inning, his second being a highlight diving grab on a deep fly ball off the bat of Kramer.

The Chargers got their final run in the sixth when Vander Plas singled in pinch runner Gavin Pribbenow.

Eckberg ended up going 2 for 3 to lead the Chargers, now 7-2 on the year, at the plate.

“I’m just proud of the whole team, team game,” Eckberg said. “I’m proud of Vandy for going out there and pitching a good game, defense making plays and then our bats just getting hits.”

The Knights fell to 5-4 with the loss.

MVL travels to Gaylord’s Walsh Field on Tuesday for a South Central Conference doubleheader with Sibley East, while St. Mary’s hosts Mankato Loyola in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference crossover game on Monday.