New Ulm scores 24 in Worthington doubleheader

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
New Ulm’s Kyle Albrecht takes a lead off of second base during a Big South Conference baseball game against Worthington Saturday at Johnson Park.

NEW ULM — New Ulm’s offense was rolling as they swept a Big South Conference baseball doubleheader against Worthington 10-0 and 14-4, both in six innings Saturday at Johnson Park.

The games were called after six innings due to the 10-run rule.

“Any time you can score 24 runs is a good thing,” New Ulm head coach Mike Anderson said. “I would say the biggest thing for the last two days, including the St. Peter game, our at bats have been awesome. Our quality at bat percentage has been over 50% for three games in a row. The difference we did today versus earlier in the year is we got that extra hit. And when we had a bunting situation, we got the bunt down and created offense between running the bases, bunting, and just taking good at bats.”

Tanner Backer got the complete game shutout in Game 1, striking out seven while allowing four hits in six innings pitched. Luke Suess was 4 for 2 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while Zach Hubbard and Preston Holberg each had two hits and an RBI.

Suess opened the scoring in the second inning with a double that brought home Holberg and Ryan Rathmann. After a scoreless third inning, New Ulm pushed four more runs across the plate with a trio of hits by Hubbard, Holberg and Ethan Thompson, along with two Worthington errors and a pair of walks.

New Ulm continued the scoring in the fifth, with a single by Suess bringing Rathmann home while Suess reached home on a groundout by Kyle Albrecht. In the sixth, New Ulm achieved their ninth and 10th runs with a single by Hubbard and a sacrifice bunt by Holberg to end the game.

Kaden Larson earned the win for New Ulm in Game 2, striking out six while allowing two hits and one earned run in four innings pitched. Thompson was 2 for 3 with three runs scored and three RBIs and three stolen bases, while Suess, Ayden Jensen and Holberg each had a hit and an RBI.

The Eagles continued their scoring from Game 1 right away, with Suess coming home on a wild pitch and Albrecht scoring on a sacrifice fly by Jensen. New Ulm increased their lead to four in the second, with Thompson coming home on a bunt by Graham Glaser and Hubbard scoring on another wild pitch. One more run was tacked on by the Eagles in the third, with Parker Neubauer scoring on a fielder’s choice.

Worthington got their first run of the day in the bottom of the third, scoring once, but New Ulm matched this in the fourth, with Hubbard scoring on a bunt by Suess. New Ulm scored three more times in the top of the fifth to take a 9-1 lead.

New Ulm faltered in the fifth, allowing three runs to cross the plate.

“We have some focus issues that we need to improve on, as any high school team does,” Anderson said. “But our biggest thing is focus issues, a little on the base paths and a little defensively. We need to work a little on everything.”

New Ulm recovered, however, and scored five times in the sixth inning and turned in a three up, three down bottom of the inning to cut the game short with a 14-4 win.

New Ulm hosts Marshall at Mueller Park on Tuesday.