NEW GLARUS — The Knights had a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh and needed just three outs to secure the win. Two errors in the inning led to three unearned runs and a 7-5 loss to Marshall on Tuesday, April 18.
“The disappointing thing all night was we are a lot better defensive team than what we showed,” New Glarus head coach Christopher Rear said. “We pride ourselves on playing good defense and we didn’t play well tonight in that regard.”
The Cardinals jumped on starting pitcher Patrick Alt early, recording three straight hits for a run. A second run came around to score on a wild pitch. Alt then ended the inning with two strikeouts and a grounder to first baseman Owen Palmer.
Alt settled in in the top of the second, striking out the first two batters and inducing a fly ball to centerfielder Easton Dreyfus.
New Glarus got on the board in the bottom of the second with four singles. Palmer drew a one-out walk, followed by a single to right from Zander Hauser. After a fielder’s choice, Leyton Mihlbauer, Ashlin Mihlbauer and Dreyfus recorded three straight hits for three runs.
Marshall responded to take a 4-3 lead in the next frame, capitalizing on two Knight errors. The next two innings, though, New Glarus pushed a run across to take a one-run lead.
“We take it small. Win this pitch. Win this at-bat,” Rear said. “At the end of the day, we can’t focus on what happened the pitch prior; we can only handle the pitch in front of us. That has been our focus from day one — the little things matter.”
Hauser led off the bottom of the fourth with a full-count walk. With a single and Cardinal error, the Knights had the bases loaded with one out. Alt hit a ground ball to third, which was bobbled, allowing courtesy runner Nate Hendrickson to score.
In the bottom of the fifth, New Glarus used small-ball to score. Palmer reached on an infield single, and Hauser moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Matt Roth came up clutch and hit an RBI single to left, scoring courtesy runner Clem Meter Brooks for a 5-4 lead.
“We are just trying to push a run across every inning and put ourselves in a position to win,” Palmer said.
New Glarus maintained the 5-4 lead going into the top of the seventh inning. Relief pitcher Leyton Mihlbauer needed just three outs to secure the win, but the Knights’ 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning lingered in the players’ heads.
“We let things get to our head while we were batting, and it showed in the field,” Palmer said. “We can’t let those things get to us.”
After a leadoff walk and stolen base, Marshall tied the game on a grounder that went under the glove of second baseman Jake Roth. Leyton Mihlbauer struck out the next two batters, but the Knights committed another error. A ground ball was hit to Alt at shortstop. Instead of throwing to one, he attempted to get the lead runner at two. His throw missed Jake Roth’s glove and went into the outfield.
In the next at-bat, Marshall hit a two-RBI single for a 7-5 lead. Leyton Mihlbauer struck out the last batter to hand it over to his offense.
The first two batters reached via error and walk. Palmer then moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, but the next two batters struck out to end the game. New Glarus left the tying run on second.
“At the end of the day when you are down late in the game, you at least have to give yourself a chance,” Rear said. “We didn’t go down one, two, three. We put ourselves in a spot with the tying run on second. Unfortunately, we were at the bottom of the order with a sophomore and freshman hitting. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Leyton Mihlbauer and Dreyfus finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a combined three RBIs to lead the offense. Alt pitched six innings, giving up just two earned runs on six hits. He struck out five without issuing a walk. In one inning, Leyton Mihlbauer gave up three unearned runs on just one hit. He struck out three and walked one.
