Willmsen got the win in five innings of work, allowing three hits and three walks for four runs, one earned, while striking out seven. He drove in two runs and went 1 for 2 at the plate, but that one hit was a big one as he sent a pitch over the wall in right field to tie things up at 4-all in the third and set the stage for Sibley East to retake the lead in the fourth.

The Wolverines, who led 2-0 in the first before the Eagles stormed back in the bottom of the inning to lead 4-2, got a run in the second on an error and tied it with Willmsen’s homer in the third. In the fourth, Nate Colling singled with one out before a flyout brought Willmsen to the plate.

Eagles starting righty Tanner Backer didn’t get a chance to face Willmsen again this time as Willmsen was intentionally walked. Leyton Dose made up for the walk with a two-run single to left to give the Wolverines a lead they didn’t end up losing again.

Backer took the loss in four innings, allowing six hits and five walks for six runs, five earned, while striking out three. Kolton Achman pitched three innings in relief and allowing one hit while fanning three.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sibley East’s Leyton Dose gets New Ulm’s Zach Hubbard out at second on a force during a nonconference baseball game Thursday at Johnson Park.

Colling led the Wolverines at the plate, going 2 for 3, while Carson Schmidt was 2 for 4.

The Eagles were led by Levi Hopp, who was 1 for 3 with two RBIs.

The Eagles made a push for it in the bottom of the sixth when Zach Hubbard lined out to center to score Ben Alfred from third on a tag-up, making it a 6-5 game, but Wolverines reliever Quintin DeVlaeminck got the save in the seventh after allowing just a one-out walk to Backer before forcing a groundout and picking up a strikeout to end the game.

Sibley East built its quick 2-0 lead in the first after a leadoff single by Schmidt. Schmidt took second on a wild pitch before a bunt single by Colling towards third base put runners on the corner. Will Feterl then grounded out to score Schmidt and make it a 1-0 game.

Willmsen then got a sac fly to right to score Colling for a 2-0 lead.

Hubbard took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first before Owen Castleman reached first after grounding into a fielder’s choice at second that got Hubbard out. A walk to Kyle Albrecht and a single by Backer filled the bases before Candon Briggs singled in a run.

Ben Alfred grounded back to Willmsen just in front of the mound, but Willmsen fired a throw away from his catcher for an error to tie the game up. Willmsen rebounded with a strikeout, but Levi Hopp singled in another pair of runs before the inning came to an end for a 4-2 New Ulm lead.

Errors came back to hurt New Ulm in the second as Evan Pautsch reached on a leadoff error. Backer got back-to-back strikeouts, but a walk to Riley Bussler put two on. Similar to Willmsen’s costly error in the first, Backer ran into similar trouble in the second as he picked up his grounder to his right and fired an errant throw to first to score a run and make it 4-3.

Schmidt pitched the sixth for Sibley East, allowing two hits and a walk for one earned run while striking out one.

Sibley East (14-6), who earned a first-round bye in the Section 2AA playoffs as the No. 2 seed, will take on No. 7-seeded New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva on Tuesday in Gaylord. New Ulm (13-6) will host Mankato East at 5 p.m. at Johnson Park Friday before Section 2AAA playoff begin Wednesday in New Ulm.