Photo by Travis Rosenau/The Journal Marshall’s Owen Kesteloot delivers a pitch on Saturday evening in a Section 2AAA Baseball Tournament elimination game with St. Peter at Mueller Park in New Ulm.

NEW ULM — The Marshall baseball team was knocked down to the elimination bracket of the Section 2AAA tournament on Saturday at Johnson Park but bounced back nicely to keep its season alive. The No. 3 Tigers opened the day with a 5-0 loss to No. 2 Mankato East but recovered with a 7-3 win over St. Peter in the elimination bracket.

Game 1

Mankato East 5, Marshall 0

The Marshall Tigers couldn’t find their rhythm at the plate against the Mankato East Cougars’ pitching in the Section 2AAA quarterfinals on Monday, resulting in a 5-0 loss to send Marshall to the elimination bracket.

Ashton Blomberg got the start on the mound for Marshall. The senior pitcher held the Cougars scoreless for the game’s first four innings but allowed one earned and one unearned run in the fifth inning before being relieved. He finished the day holding Mankato East to four hits and four walks with two strikeouts over 4 2/3 frames.

Nathan Bridger got the start for the Cougars, holding Marshall to just one hit in 5 2/3 innings of work. He didn’t allow a walk or a run and also struck out six batters. In relief, Nicholas Werk held Marshall to one hit without a walk or a run over 1 1/3 frames.

Carson Hart led off the Cougars in the bottom of the fifth inning with a double. He advanced to third on a Werk sacrifice bunt and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

With two outs, Zachary Bosse reached base on a Marshall error, getting him all the way to second base, and he scored when Jack Hansen also reached on an error. After Blomberg walked the next batter, Karson Rowe came in as a relief pitcher for the Tigers and got the inning-ending strikeout.

Rowe allowed three runs in the bottom of the sixth, finishing the day with a strikeout, three hits and one walk allowed over 1 1/3 innings.

Marshall finished the game with four errors to Mankato East’s one and two hits to Mankato East’s seven. Talan Plante and Coby Brownlee each singled.

Mankato East advances to the section semifinals with the win, where they will take on top-seeded Mankato West with a section championship berth on the line.

Game 2

Marshall 7, St. Peter 3

After being unable to activate their bats in their first game of the day, the Marshall offense came alive in Game 2 to pull away for a 7-3 win over No. 5 St. Peter.

The Tigers went ahead in the bottom of the third inning. Singles from Andrew Stelter and Josh Kraft put runners on the corners with two outs when a wild pitch allowed Stelter to sprint home to give Marshall a 1-0 lead.

One inning later, the Tigers expanded on their advantage. Liam Kruse and Carter Kepler walked with a Coby Brownlee hit-by-pitch in the middle to load the bases with no outs. A wild pitch allowed Kruse to cross the plate for another Tiger run, an RBI double from Stelter plated another run and Levi Maeyaert reached on an error to drive in Kepler for a 4-0 Marshall lead.

The Saints started to pick up some momentum with an inning-ending double play before scoring three runs of their own in the top of the fifth. An error and a failed fielder’s choice put two runners on for St. Peter and an RBI double and two RBI singles made it a one-run game.

That was as close as the Saints would get. Marshall matched the production in the bottom of the frame. Talan Plante walked and Andrew Cowden bunted and reached on an error to put runners on second and third with no outs. Kruse singled in one run, Brownlee reached on an error to drive in another and after Kepler was hit by a pitch, Chase Alcorn drew a bases-loaded walk to give Marshall a 7-3 lead.

Stelter had two hits for Marshall in the game while Josh Kraft and Liam Kruse each added another. Kruse also tied Plante with a game-high two walks.

On the mound, Owen Kesteloot allowed two earned runs and one unearned on six hits and two walks. He pitched the game’s first 4 1/3 innings to earn the victory before Alcorn closed out the game with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Alcorn allowed just one hit and one walk.

St. Peter finished the game out-hitting Marshall 7-4 but also committed five errors while Marshall committed just one.

Kaeden Guida pitched the first three innings for St. Peter, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. In relief, Tate Olson allowed three earned runs and another two unearned on one hit and three walks over one inning while Maxwell Brown allowed one unearned run on one hit and two walks over two frames.

Marshall improves to 19-5 with the win and will now take on No. 4 Albert Lea (13-6) in the elimination bracket semifinals at Mueller Park today at 5 p.m. The winner will play the loser of the Mankato West and Mankato East matchup at 7 p.m. in Mueller Park.

St. Peter finishes its season at 13-10 on the year.