MVL struggles collecting key hit in loss to Maple River

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau
Minnesota Valley Lutheran’s Connor Bode slides into third safely during a nonconference 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 made it hold up as Maple River blanked the Minnesota Valley Lutheran Chargers 2-0 Tuesday in a nonconference baseball game at 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 Chargers, now 5-6. 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 added a double.

“I feel bad for Zach,” Chargers head 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 went down from there.”

Both pitchers had goose eggs on the board for four innings as each allowed just two hits.

But in the top of the fifth inning, the Eagles took advantage of the only MVL 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 on strikeouts, Veit lined an RBI single to right for a 2-0 lead.

The Chargers had their chances to cut into the two-run lead.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jensen Gerdts reached on an error and Schmidt singled.

Josh Carlovsky’s sacrifice bunt moved the 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 raced to third on a Bradyn Kube one-out single.

But again Thompson was up to the challenge as he retired the next two Chargers hitters.

“We need to come up with that big hit,” Buboltz said. “We need to have a better approach on getting runs in. Our guys did everything they could to try and win the game.

“We knew if we could get two or three runs that the rain was coming. But it came down to one play and we did not make it.”

The Chargers now have to turn around in 24 hours and face New Um Cathedral Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Mueller Park.

The game was moved to Wednesday because of the forecast of rain on Thursday.

Buboltz said that the Chargers cannot hurt themselves in the games.

“There is a formula to winning and we cannot hurt ourselves,” he said. “We have to help ourselves out a little bit.”