Team photo by Travis Rosenau Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Connor Bode safely slides into third during a non-conference baseball game against Maple River on Tuesday at Johnson Park in New Ulm.
NEW ULM – Maple River scored two unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning and Eagles right-hander Kaleb Thompson held on as Maple River defeated the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers 2-0 on Tuesday in a non-conference baseball game in Johnson Park.
The game was called in the top of the seventh inning due to heavy rain.
Thompson got the win for Maple River (5-3). He went six innings and scattered five hits while striking out two.
Zach Riederer took the loss for the now 5-6 Chargers. He went five innings and allowed four hits and two runs – both unearned – while striking out six.
Thompson had three hits for Maple River, with Braxton Simon and Jackson Veit driving in both runs.
Seth Schmidt had two hits for the Chargers, while Riederer had a double.
“I feel bad for Zach,” Chargers coach Jim Buboltz said. “He pitched well enough to keep us in the game and we were in the game. But we just misplayed a fly ball and it fell from there.
Both pitchers had goose eggs on the board through four innings as each allowed just two hits.
But in the top of the fifth inning, the Eagles took advantage of MVL’s only error of the game.
Garrett Bollmann led off with a fly ball to left that was misplayed into a two-base error.
He stole third and scored on a Simon single to left field.
After Riederer recorded the first two outs of the inning in strikeouts, Veit lined an RBI single to right for a 2-0 lead.
The Chargers had their chances to cut into a two-run lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jensen Gerdts reached on an error and Schmidt scored.
Josh Carlovsky’s sacrifice move moved runners to second and third.
But Thompson retired the next two batters to end the threat.
In the sixth inning, MVL mounted another threat.
Connor Bode singled and ran to third on a single by Bradyn Kube.
But again, Thompson was up to the challenge by retiring the Chargers’ next two hitters.
“We need to find that big hit,” Buboltz said. “We need to have a better approach to getting runs. Our guys did everything they could to try and win the game.
“We knew if we got two or three runs that the rain was coming. But it all came down to one play and we didn’t make it.
The Chargers will now have to turn around in 24 hours and face New One Cathedral on Wednesday at 4:30 pm at Mueller Park.
The game was moved to Wednesday because of rain forecast on Thursday.
Buboltz said the Chargers can’t afford to get hurt in games.
“There is a formula to win and we cannot get hurt”, he said. “We have to help each other a little.”
