Marshall wins over New Ulm in defensive battle

Staff photo by Ari Selvey
New Ulm’s Luke Suess takes off for third during a Big South Conference baseball game against Marshall Tuesday at Johnson Park in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — Marshall’s Liam Kruse pitched the Tigers to a 3-1 win over New Ulm Tuesday in a Big South Conference baseball game at Mueller Park.

“He’s getting better and better each outing,” Marshall head coach Chace Pollock said of Kruse. “He threw a no-hitter earlier this year with a couple other guys. Every game he seems to be better and better. He was in the strike zone a lot more today than he was in his previous outing. It’s great to see. He’s throwing the off-speed pitch first strike and working with tempo.”

Kruse struck out six batters and allowed two hits and one earned run in his seven innings pitched, cooling down the bats of a New Ulm team that scored 24 runs in a doubleheader against Worthington this past Saturday.

“Our energy was a little low as a group,” New Ulm head coach Mike Anderson said. “But honestly that pitcher that we faced was really good. He got strike one all the time, changed speeds, kept us off balance, and just kept us off. We couldn’t find that extra hit, that clutch hit today.”

At the plate for Marshall, Ashton Blomberg was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Josh Kraft was 2 for 4 with a run scored. JR Vierstraete had a triple and a run scored, while Coby Brownlee was 2 for 3 with a stolen base.

Kolton Achman took the loss for New Ulm, striking out one while allowing five hits and two runs, one earned. Luke Suess and Ayden Jensen each picked up a hit for New Ulm, with Kyle Albrecht scoring a run and Ethan Thompson recording an RBI.

Both teams had chances to score early, starting with New Ulm picking up both of their hits in the first inning with one out. However, Jensen was thrown out at first and Kruse got a strikeout to end the inning. The Eagles didn’t get a hit for the remainder of the game.

“I would say it’s a season-long problem,” Anderson said of the team’s troubles getting runners in scoring position home. “But believe it or not, as much as scoring only one run shows that we’re not hitting, it’s getting better. It’s getting better every game. We just played a high-level team that hasn’t lost yet. They’re undefeated coming in.”

Marshall threatened to score in the top of the third, loading the bases with one out however, a heads-up fielder’s choice by Achman prevented a run and a groundout to shortstop ended the inning for the Tigers.

Despite the setback, Marshall struck first in the top of the fourth after a 1-2-3 inning defensively. Blomberg got a single, stole second and reached third on a groundout before coming home on a fielding error for the first run of the game. New Ulm was able to respond in the bottom of the inning, with Albrecht drawing a walk, advancing to third on a passed ball and stealing third before being bunted home by Thompson to tie it up.

Vierstraete hit a triple with two outs in the top of the fifth to threaten another Marshall run. After Jude Knudson was hit by a pitch to take first, a balk was called to bring Vierstraete home as the Tigers retook the lead. After a scoreless sixth inning, Blomberg hit a single to score Kraft to solidify a 3-1 win for Marshall.

“We had opportunities early in the game,” Pollock said. “Didn’t come up with the big hit … Then Blomberg came up big for us in the top of the sixth. It was a good day to pitch, nice cool night, and the defense played really well. So did New Ulm’s.”

New Ulm (3-4, 3-2) travels to Mankato East on Thursday. Marshall (5-1, 1-0) hosts Worthington on Tuesday.