Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Josh Baker makes a running catch during game one of their doubleheader against New Ulm Gold on Tuesday. Marshall 18U defeated New Ulm Gold 6-2 in game one and 10-7 in game two.

MARSHALL — After splitting its past two doubleheaders, the Marshall 18U baseball team returned home looking to start a new trend against New Ulm Gold. Thanks to a hot start offensively and strong pitching throughout, Marshall was able to sweep the pair of games against New Ulm, winning game one 6-2 before taking game two 10-7 on Tuesday night at Legion Field.

Game 1

Marshall 6,

New Ulm Gold 2

Marshall grabbed an early lead in the opener, as Chase Douglas connected on a one-out single before back-to-back base hits by Cole Felcyn and AJ Toulouse brought in the first run of the day. Peyton Grant then followed that up with an RBI single of his own to make it 2-0 after one.

After a scoreless second, New Ulm Gold fought back in the top half of the third, using a leadoff walk and a sacrifice before a single helped cut the deficit to 2-1. Marshall would have a response a couple of innings later, though, with Felcyn leading off the fifth with a double before Toulouse reached on an error to put runners on the corners with no outs. Consecutive RBI base hits by Grant and Josh Baker would then extend Marshall’s lead to 4-1 after five.

New Ulm Gold wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, capitalizing on a single and a pair of errors to draw it to 4-2. In need of an answer, Marshall found it when Matt Hmielewski reached on an error before coming around to score on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Mernaugh to push it back to 5-2. Marshall wasn’t done there, as a pair of walks by Felcyn and Toulouse led to an RBI double by Grant down the left-field line to plate another run and bring it to the 6-2 final.

Grant led the way for Marshall with two hits and three RBI while Felcyn added two hits and Baker and Toulouse each had a hit and an RBI.

Jack Bly earned the complete-game victory on the mound, allowing two runs on four hits and struck out three.

Game 2

Marshall 10, New Ulm Gold 7

Looking to keep its momentum going, Marshall once again was able to take advantage at the plate early. Douglas got things started with a one-out double before Mernaugh reached on a single and Felcyn lined an RBI double to make it 1-0. Bly then reached on a single on the next at-bat to push Marshall’s lead to 2-0.

Marshall kept things going in the next frame, as Braden Meyer drew a walk before Hmielewski reached on an error to plate a run. Douglas and Mernaugh then exchanged back-to-back RBI doubles to add two more before a sacrifice fly by Baker made it 6-0. New Ulm would load the bases on its trip to the plate in the bottom of the frame, but the Marshall starter Felcyn would be able to escape the jam by getting a groundout.

Marshall’s offense continued to roll in the third, this time with Douglas leading the charge with a triple before scoring on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch and an error by New Ulm helped Marshall add two more runs and extend its advantage to 9-0.

New Ulm wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, as it led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run to left before three straight doubles plated two runs to cut the deficit to 9-3. New Ulm would then load the bases with one out, before adding a run on a fielder’s choice, but the Marshall reliever Mernaugh was able to prevent any further damage by getting a flyout to end the inning.

After a scoreless fourth, New Ulm was able to draw closer in the bottom of the fifth, using a walk, an RBI double and an RBI single to cut the deficit to three at 9-6. New Ulm wasn’t done there, keeping the two-out rally going with an RBI single to make it a two-run game at 9-7.

Marshall had an answer, however, loading the bases in the top of the seventh before Baker plated a run on a fielder’s choice to bring it to the 10-7 final.

Douglas and Mernaugh led the way for Marshall with three hits and an RBI each while Bly added two hits and an RBI and Baker had two RBI.

Felcyn earned the victory on the mound, going 2 1/3 innings while allowing four runs on four hits.