Staff photo by Travis Rosenau The New Ulm Legion Gold’s Tanner Backer pitches during an Upper Midwest Classic Tournament quarterfinals game against the Mankato American on Saturday evening at Johnson Park.

NEW ULM — The New Ulm Legion Gold broke a 5-5 tie with four runs in the top of the seventh and went on to down the Mankato American 9-5 in the quarterfinals of the Upper Midwest Classic Tournament at Johnson Park.

Tanner Backer got the win for the Gold.

He struck out five.

Owen Studtman took the loss in relief for the American.

Levi Hopp, Candon Briggs and Alex Portner each had two hits for New Ulm.

With the win, New Ulm now plays Monticello Sunday at noon at Johnson Park in the semifinals.

Sleepy Eye plays at 9:30 a.m. against Rosetown in an earlier semifinals game.

The winners meet at approximately 2:45 p.m. for the title.

New Ulm held at 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth before the American plated two runs to cut the lead to 5-3. The American tied the game with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

But a Levi Hopp leadoff single and an infield error on a Briggs grounder sparked the four-run inning. A Hunter Larson sacrifice bunt preceded an intentional walk to Kyle Albrecht that loaded the bases with one out.

After a popout, an Eli Anderson bunt single plated Hopp. A walk to Evan Blekestad forced in a run for a 7-5 lead and a two-run single from Josh Forstner upped the lead to 9-5.