Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall pitcher Chase Alcorn throws from the mound during a Section 2AAA baseball tournament game against Mankato West at Johnson Park on Wednesday.

MARSHALL — Pitching and defense have been the hallmark of the Marshall baseball team all season long. That was no different in the No. 3 Tigers’ Section 2AAA elimination bracket matchup against Albert Lea on Wednesday, where the Tigers rallied late to claim a 2-1 victory. Yet, the Tigers could not carry that momentum into their second game of the day against top-seeded Mankato West, who defeated Marshall 7-4 to advance to the section championship game against Mankato East.

“That was a 20-win season for us. There’s not many teams that have won 20 ballgames in a season and this is one of them,” Marshall head coach Chace Pollock said after the game. “These guys have a lot to be proud of and a lot to look forward to from here.”

Game 1

Marshall 2, Albert Lea 1

After five scoreless innings in the Section 2AAA baseball elimination semifinal matchup between No. 3 Marshall and No. 4 Albert Lea, the offenses woke up late. Some clutch hitting from Marshall, however, led them to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over their fellow Tigers.

Albert Lea scored the game’s first run in the top of the sixth when Logan Davis drew a walk and went on to score on a passed ball with two outs. Their lead didn’t make it to the bottom of the frame.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Josh Kraft helped turn things around for Marshall by reaching second base on an error. Talan Plante followed up with an RBI single to tie up the game and a pair of singles from Andrew Cowden and Liam Kruse drove in Samuel Thor — courtesy running for Plante — for the go-ahead run.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game, but we battled through it,” Pollock said. “We had a chance there and we cashed in on it. I’m proud of the way we finished and proud of [relief pitcher] Braxton [Koster] for closing the door, it was a fun game.”

Kruse started on the mound for the Marshall and was sensational over his six innings to record the win. He held Albert Lea to one unearned run on five hits and five walks while striking out four batters.

“He’s got really good stuff. His ball moves a lot and he’s around the zone enough,” Pollock said. “We played good defense behind him and give him credit, he’s come a long way and he’s got a lot of bright days ahead of him.”

Braxton Koster pitched an efficient seventh inning to earn the save on the hill. After allowing a leadoff single, Koster got a ground out and struck out each of the final two batters to seal the win.

Plante led Marshall offensively on the day with two hits and a walk. Cowden, Kruse, and Jude Knudson each also accounted for one of the Tigers’ five hits on the day.

Michael Olson pitched all six innings for Albert Lea in the loss, allowing two unearned runs on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Sam McGill led the team offensively with three hits.

Kruse has been notably effective all year long, with his 46 2/3 innings pitched being more than the next two Marshall pitchers combined and his 0.45 ERA and 52 strikeouts all standing far and away as team bests. Still, at the time of year when one loss ends the season, Marshall didn’t have the luxury of saving his arm for a matchup against Mankato West.

“You can’t get to the next step unless you take care of the first,” Pollock said. “We’re just trying to get to the next game. You can’t get two games ahead of yourself at this point, so put your best foot forward.”

Game 2

Mankato West 7, Marshall 4

While Marshall was able to steal a win in their first game of the day, they had the script flipped on them when a five-run inning for Mankato West gave the section’s top seed a 7-4 win to end the Tigers’ season.

The bottom of the fifth inning was when Mankato put together its game-deciding rally. Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the frame, a Wilson Magers single brought the tying run to the plate for the Scarlets. Marshall elected to replace Chase Alcorn on the mound with Koster but a Mason Durose walk and a Charles Hudrlik hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for West with one out.

From there, the Scarlets offense erupted. Evan Maes hit a two-run double to tie the game and, after a strikeout, Jude Etter doubled in another pair of runs to put the Scarlets back on top. Benjamin O’Neil then doubled in another run for a 7-4 lead before Karson Rowe relieved Koster and got the inning-ending out.

“They hit the ball and we didn’t,” Pollock said when asked what allowed Mankato West to pull away when they did. “We ended with three hits and they hit some baseballs really hard. That was the difference in the game. Give them credit, they won the game. It was within reach for us, but give them credit.”

Marshall had just claimed the lead in the top of the same inning. Alcorn and Levi Maeyaert walked with Andrew Stelter being hit by a pitch in between to load the bases. A pop out to second base and an infield fly to short put two down but Andrew Cowden came up with a big two-run single to give Marshall a 4-2 lead.

Alcorn pitched the first four innings for Marshall, getting charged with three runs — one of which was unearned — on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Koster was charged with the loss after allowing four runs on three hits and a walk while Rowe pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits and three walks with a strikeout.

Mankato West was knocked down to the elimination bracket earlier in the day after losing 6-1 to No. 2 Mankato East in the section semifinals. 

Mankato West struck first against Marshall with a pair of second-inning runs. Talay Sartell was hit by a pitch before eventually scoring on a passed ball and Hudrlik singled before scoring on a Jayden Knutson RBI single. 

The Scarlets did not carry that lead into their next turn at bat, however. Marshall answered expeditiously when Alcorn walked and Stelter singled before Josh Kraft drove them both in with a two-run double with two outs. 

DuRose pitched five innings for Mankato West, allowing four earned runs on three hits and five walks with five strikeouts. Etter earned the save in relief, tossing two scoreless and hitless innings while allowing just one walk with three strikeouts.

The Tigers wrap up the year with a 20-6 record. The team will return plenty of young talent next year but will look drastically different; Marshall is graduating 10 of its 20 players, including Talan Plante, Coby Brownlee, Jude Knudson, Ashton Blomberg, Carter Kepler, Brayden Ust, Braeden Myhre, Juehl Morman Karson Rowe and Andrew Cowden. 

“I’m just proud of the work that they put in for us,” Pollock said. “This takes a lot of time and effort and work to get to this point. I think about all the years that they put into baseball and everything like that.”

Mankato West and Mankato East will now duke it out for the section championship on Friday at noon. East needs just one win to advance to the state tournament while West will need to win two games in a row.