Photo by Jake Przytarski Marshall’s Isaac Schmitt delivers a pitch during their game against the Minneapolis Lakers on Friday. The Mudcats defeated the Lakers 7-3.

MARSHALL – The 19th annual Wood Bat Classic got underway at Legion Field on Friday with the Marshall Mudcats taking on the Minneapolis Lakers in the first matchup of the weekend-long tournament.

After shutting the Lakers out in last year’s meeting, starting pitcher Isaac Schmitt got the better of the Minneapolis ballclub again with another efficient complete game outing to lead the Mudcats to a 7-3 win.

Marshall coach Mitch Maxwell praised Schmitt for his performance in battling throughout the tight ballgame.

“On the mound, Schmitty’s our guy,” said Maxwell. “He’s a bulldog. He wants the baseball if it’s a tight ballgame and he goes after people. That’s what we love about him. He’s our man.”

With contributions up and down the lineup for the Mudcats, Maxwell came away pleased by the offensive output of the ballclub.

“Hats off to the entire lineup,” said Maxwell. “If you look at how we got our first couple of runs things came from the bottom of the inning. We did a nice job of playing a little bit of small ball to put runners on base and move some people around.”

After a pair of scoreless innings to open up the contest, the Mudcat bats came alive to begin the bottom of the third inning as Riley Alcorn, Peyton Grant and Matt Hmielewski hit consecutive base hits to drive in their first run.

With a pair of runners in scoring position, Jackson Hughes drove in the second run for the Mudcats with a bunt and Schmitt drove in the third with his first of two singles on the day and his first of three RBIs.

In the top of the fourth, the Lakers began to show life at the plate with a leadoff double to begin the frame followed by a single. A groundout on the ensuing at-bat would score their first run of the game, and an RBI single two batters later scored their second to make it 3-2.

Unable to respond in the bottom half of the inning, the Mudcats instead found their answer in their fifth time up when Hughes reached first on an error to start the frame, and Macchio provided the clutch-hit to bring him home and push the lead to a pair of runs.

The Lakers would once again cut the lead back to a run in the top half of the sixth, but a three-run burst featuring hits by Schmitt and Welvaert sealed the Mudcats victory at 7-3.

Marshall will return to action today at 9:30 a.m. when they take on Albany at Legion Field. Looking ahead, Maxwell is approaching the weekend tournament on a game to game basis.

“Our focus is just taking it one ballgame at a time,” said Maxwell. “It’s nice to get the first one under our belt and then we want to be able to play one game at a time. Hopefully things go our way.”

Marshall 7, Minneapolis 3

Minneapolis 000 201 0 — 3 7 1

Marshall 003 013 x — 7 8 0

HITTING: Marshall (Hmielewski 1-3, RBI, 2 runs; Schmitt 2-4, 3 RBI; Macchio 1-4, RBI; Welvaert 1-2, RBI; Mernaugh 1-3, 2B; Alcorn 1-2, 2 runs; Grant 1-3, run).

PITCHING: Marshall (Schmitt 7.0-7-3-3-3-6).