Photo by Samantha Davis. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton shortstop Gabe Elton receives a throw from catcher Seth Cowell for a successful tag-out at second base in the first inning against Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian Tuesday night in Ruthton in a Red Rock Conference matchup. The Knights fell to the Flying Dutchmen 7-1 in the final inning. 

RUTHTON — In a strong defensive game with the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton baseball team holding a one-run edge for three innings leading up to the final frame, Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian rallied for a seven-run seventh inning for a 7-1 win Tuesday night in a Red Rock Conference matchup.

Eli Determan and Trevin Prins pitched competitively, both with solid defense behind them. Yet, the Flying Dutchmen’s bats connected when it mattered the most to fluster the Knights, forcing five errors.

“They [E/SWMC] were really good, they were competitive and they have a great pitcher … I knew it was going to be a pitchers duel and Eli showed up good,” RTR head coach Daniel Moffitt said. “I’ll take the blame on this one. We had two outs at the time, and I thought we’d get through it, and maybe I should have switched [pitchers] a little bit earlier. But, I like what we’re doing and I liked our defense.”

Edgerton finished with one error and eight hits, while RTR had four hits.

Determan pitched for six innings, throwing eight strikeouts and two walks while allowing five hits. Gavin Schreurs relieved him in the seventh with two outs after Edgerton scored a run and had two runners on base, and pitched one strikeout with three hits.

Brayden Chandler went to the mound for the final out, throwing a strikeout.

Edgerton’s Prins pitched the entire game with six strikeouts and one walk.

Schreurs accounted for RTR’s one run that came in the bottom of the third inning with two outs, going home off a Chandler RBI single out to center field. Schreurs first got on base with a single infield ground ball to shortstop.

Edgerton first tied the game up 1-1 in the seventh with a runner scoring home from second base off a bunt, which RTR committed an error on with an overthrow to first.

The Flying Dutchmen got bases loaded as Schreurs came in as relief, and scored its next two runs off RBI singles, followed up with another four runs off a double to right field and single to center field.

Moffitt sent in Chandler with two outs with a runner on second, who threw two balls and three strikes to end Edgerton’s run.

In an effort to find six runs to force the game to extra innings, RTR couldn’t find an answer to get momentum going with Edgerton’s defense remaining intact. The Knights didn’t get any runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, and the game ended after a pop fly catch in left center field, and a pair of infield plays to first.

Sean Griesse led RTR with two hits off three at-bats. Tyler Wichmann also had a hit on the night alongside Chandler and Schreurs.

Prior to the final inning, RTR had a handful of big defensive plays that allowed the Knights to keep their lead for a majority of the game.

Catcher Seth Cowell threw down to shortstop Gabe Elton to successfully tag an Edgerton runner out stealing second for the final out in the top of the first inning.

RTR also had a flawless double play in the top of the sixth inning with runners on first and second with one out, with Chandler at third base fielding a hard ground ball for the force out at three, and sent the ball across the field to Chase Christianson at first base to force the batter out.

“They were great. Those guys showed up, and that’s what we needed,” Moffitt said. “We got out of a jam, and that was very good defense.”

The Knights and Flying Dutchmen entered Tuesday neck-and-neck in conference standings in third and second place, respectively, with Edgerton holding a one-game edge over RTR.

With the loss, RTR moves to 7-5 in conference, still ranked third, while Edgerton now sits at 8-3. Murray County Central currently occupies first place with a 9-1 conference record with just over a week of regular season play left.

“I thought for sure if we got these guys [defeated Edgerton], we’d probably get that two-seed for sure, but now it’ll be a toss-up,” Moffitt said. “Edgerton’s got a lot of games yet, and the coaches vote and see what they see. So, hopefully, we can get Canby and finish out the season.”

RTR (13-6) will next look to get back on track when it hosts Canby (5-6) at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

“We’re just going to stay positive,” Moffitt said. “Control the things that we can control, and not worry about things we can’t control.”