And for the third UMC game in a row, that led to victory.

Bolstered by its pitching staff, Sleepy Eye finished pool play of the UMC 3-0 with two wins Friday at Johnson Park. Karter Haala pitched a complete-game shutout to beat West Fargo 9-0 in Game 2 of pool play, while Eric Lozano ended the day with six strong innings to take down Byron 5-2 in Sleepy Eye’s third and final pool play game.

“Just doing the little things,” Sleepy Eye coach Caden Evers said. “Base running, being clean defensively and pitching’s been outstanding. It’s been unbelievable. Guys are throwing really well and we just hope to keep that going.”

Haala struck out seven in his win and gave up just three hits and two walks. Kayden Klein was 3 for 3 with an RBI against West Fargo, while Haala was 3 for 4, Tyler Mathiowetz was 3 for 5 with two doubles and four RBIs, Lozano was 2 for 3 and Carson Uecker was 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye Legion Post 7’s Eric Lozano delivers a pitch during an Upper Midwest Classic Tournament game against Byron on Friday at Johnson Park in New Ulm.

Sleepy Eye had two errors in the game, but they canceled them out with Haala’s strong performance and 16 total hits.

Gavin Bjur took the mound loss for West Fargo in three innings, allowing nine hits and a walk for six runs, one earned. Peyton Berg was 1 for 1 for West Fargo, while Dylan Bahr was 1 for 2 and Matthew Dick was 1 for 3.

Lozano’s win saw him allow four hits and three walks for one unearned run while striking out two. Eli Christensen pitched the last inning and allowed a hit, a walk and an earned run, but he struck out two and the game ended on a strike that catcher Uecker promptly threw to third baseman Landry Folkens for a pickoff.

Uecker led the way for Sleepy Eye against Byron by going 3 for 3 with three runs scored, while Merrick Mathiowetz was 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs and Klein was 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs.

Noah Theobald pitched six innings for Byron and took the loss, allowing eight hits and one walk for five runs, four earned, while striking out three. Isaac Cunico was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a walk to lead Byron at the plate.

In the win over West Fargo to open Friday, Post 7 scored single runs in the first two innings before a four-run third inning, highlighted on a Tyler Mathiowetz double that cleared the bases and scored three for a 6-0 lead. Sleepy Eye sent two more runs across in the fifth on Tyler Mathiowetz’s second double of the game and an RBI single by Uecker. A fielder’s choice by Tyler Mathiowetz saw to the final run of the game score in the sixth.

Sleepy Eye kept its bats going early on against Byron, getting on board in the first with two outs. After Uecker dropped down a bunt single and stole second, Merrick Mathiowetz singled to right to score Uecker for a 1-0 lead. An error allowed Folkens to score in the second for a 2-0 lead.

Byron got a run back in the third on an RBI single from Cunico to score Jack Peterson, who walked with two outs and took second on a passed ball.

That was the only real trouble Lozano had in the game. Apart from that, he was calm, cool and collected and was aided by his defense.

First baseman Chase Zufall helped Lozano get out of an inning on two separate occasions by chasing down pop-ups in foul territory. Sleepy Eye also didn’t commit an error in the game.

“Eric threw unbelievable,” Evers said. “Before the game, I told him, ‘Really good defense behind you, just go out and do your thing. Confidence in every pitch you throw.’ He executed everything very, very well. He’s a guy that can get in some trouble with some walks here and there, but he limited that and trusted his guys.”

Uecker singled to lead off the bottom of the third and back-to-back RBI doubles from Merrick Mathiowetz and Klein made it a 4-1 lead for Sleepy Eye.

Klein singled in the fifth to score Uecker, who singled into center to lead off, giving Sleepy Eye a 5-1 lead.

Christensen entered in relief in the seventh and hit Reece Hagland with a pitch before walking Tyler Schultz. Christensen dialed in and got a strikeout before Cunico singled in a run to make it 5-2. Another strikeout followed with runners on the corners and after Uecker caught a strike looking, he fired a throw to third to pick Schultz off and end the game.

“That’s the biggest thing that I emphasize,” Evers said. “We don’t have to look at the big, all-around stats, hitting doubles, hitting home runs and stuff like that. It just comes down to what team wants it more and what little things we do right. Just like that [pickoff], noticed the guy getting off third more and took advantage of it.”

After Sleepy Eye beat the Mankato National 2-1 Thursday and went 2-0 on Thursday, it won Pool D and will play the runner-up of Pool C at 6 p.m. in a quarterfinals game.

Pool play continues Saturday morning.

“We just have to go into [Saturday] and hopefully Sunday and not overlook anyone,” Evers said. “Just keep doing what we’ve been doing. Doing the little things, having good at-bats and play as a team.”