Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Josh Baker slides safely into second base during their game against Luverne on Thursday. Marshall defeated Luverne 3-1.

MARSHALL — After falling to New Ulm earlier last week, the Marshall baseball team rebounded with a pair of victories against Pipestone Area and Windom Area. Meanwhile, their opponent, Luverne, entered Thursday’s matchup on a hot streak, with the Cardinals winning their last six consecutive games and had suffered only one loss so far this season while outscoring opponents 199-49 this year.

Thanks to strong outings by Charlie Jacobson and Jack Bly on the mound, key defensive plays and timely hits, Marshall was able to keep Luverne in check on offense and earned a 3-1 victory at Legion Field.

Marshall coach Chace Pollock said he was pleased with their efforts on the mound and on defense against a tough opponent.

“It’s pitching and defense and that’s what wins games and we had it [today],” Pollock said. “I thought our pitchers did an outstanding job and we played well defensively and that’s what you get, so it was exciting.”

Both teams couldn’t capitalize early on the offensive end, with each side recording just one hit in the first two innings. Marshall then got on the board in the bottom of the third when Josh Baker reached on a one-out infield single before stealing second and later coming around to score on an error on another stolen base attempt to make it 1-0. After Luverne went 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth, Marshall added to its lead in the ensuing at-bat, with Jacobson connecting on a single before Bly drew a walk and AJ Toulouse brought in a run on a groundout to push the lead to 2-0.

Luverne wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, and used a leadoff walk followed by two stolen bases and an error to get on the board in the top of the sixth but Marshall was right there to respond. Jacobson led off the bottom of the frame with a single before advancing to third on an error. Bly then stepped up and smacked a line drive over the centerfielder’s head for an RBI double to give Marshall a 3-1 lead, and Bly got a 1-2-3 seventh inning to seal the victory.

Baker and Jacobson led Marshall with two hits each while Connor Neubeck added a hit, Bly had a hit and an RBI and Toulouse had an RBI.

Pollock said offensively they did a good job of putting the ball in play when they needed to and creating ways to score runs.

“I thought we manufactured some runs and that’s what we’re going to have to do when it matters,” Pollock said. “I was proud of the guys there and anytime you can put the ball in play with two strikes, good things are going to happen and that’s what we did.”

Jacobson earned the victory on the mound, going five innings while allowing one run on just one hit and struck out seven. Bly tossed the final two frames, not allowing a run while striking out two.

“Charlie and Jack had all of their pitches work so it was fun to watch those guys go out and especially from the beginning of the year until now it’s been great to see how far they’ve come,” Pollock said.

Up next

Marshall (11-3) will face Willmar on the road on Monday in a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m.

Marshall 3, Luverne 1

Luverne 000 001 0 – 1 1 3

Marshall 001 101 x – 3 6 2

Hitting: Marshall (Baker 2-3; Neubeck 1-2; Jacobson 2-2; Bly 1-1, RBI; Toulouse RBI).

Pitching (IP-R-ER-H-BB-SO): Marshall (Jacobson 5-1-1-1-2-7; Bly 2-0-0-0-0-2).