Submitted photo The Marshall A’s baseball team poses with their plaque after winning the Belle Plaine Tournament on Sunday. The team includes (front row, left to right) Connor Neubeck, Coby Brownlee, Mitch Bouwman, A.J. Toulouse, Logan Tomasek, Cody Wichmann, (back row) Karson Rowe, Cooper Mensink, Zach Olson, Wes Sarsland, Ashton Blomberg, Ryan Schwagel and Talan Plante.

BELLE PLAINE –The Marshall A’s took down the Minneapolis Mudcats, the Belle Plaine Tigers and the Watkins Clippers at the Belle Plaine tournament over the weekend to earn their fifth event championship. The A’s opened play on Friday night with a 4-2 win over Minneapolis, kept their momentum going with a 7-4 win over Belle Plaine on Saturday and capped off the title with a 3-1 win over Watkins.

Mitch Bouwman threw six innings without giving up an earned run on Friday to earn the win while Cody Wichmann earned the save with a one-inning save. Logan Tomasek earned the win on day two with a two-inning relief outing while Wichmann picked up a two-inning scoreless save, and Mensink earned the win in the final while Bouwman closed out the championship run with the save.

Ryan Schwagel hit a solo go-ahead home run in the championship round, Wichmann had a double and a triple with two walks and two RBIs in the semifinal and Connor Neubeck led the offense in the opener with a double and a single with an RBI..

Marshall improves to 7-3 on the season with the trio of wins and carries a five-game winning streak into its road matchup at Sacred Heart today at 7:30 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS

Minneapolis 2

Bouwman put together a dominant start in the first round of the tournament, striking out 10 batters while limiting the Mudcats to a hit and five walks over six frames. Each of the two runs he allowed was unearned.

Wichmann also struck out one batter without allowing a hit or a walk in his save.

A Wes Sarsland single, a Tomasek walk and Ashton Blomberg reaching base on an error loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning. Sarsland was forced out at the plate on a ground ball, but A.J. Toulouse reached on an error to drive in Tomasek for the go-ahead run and Plante singled with two outs to give the A’s a 2-0 lead.

Plante and Neubeck each had two hits and an RBI in the game while Coby Brownlee also reached base twice on a pair of walks.

Cooper Mensink and Wichmann each reached base on errors in the fourth, with Mensink scoring on the latter to give Marshall a 3-0 lead.

Jack Amundson reached base on an error for the Mudcats to lead off the fifth, and a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. Bouwman walked in one run and a second scored on a Marshall error to bring the Mudcats within a run, but Bouwman and Wichmann shut down the Mudcat bats for the remainder of the game.

Carter Hoff pitched five innings with seven strikeouts and three unearned runs allowed for Minneapolis while Sam Melchior pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Mudcats. Max Gerstner accounted for the team’s lone hit and drew one of five walks for the Mudcats.

Marshall 7, Belle Plaine 4

Marshall’s semifinal matchup against Belle Plaine was tied up at four runs apiece heading into the sixth when the A’s bats clicked into form to take the lead.

Brownlee initiated the rally with a leadoff walk before scoring on a one-out double by Tomasek to give the A’s the lead. Mensink then singled with one out to put runners on the corners before stealing second, and Toulouse doubled in Tomasek and Mensink to secure the win.

Karson Rowe pitched the first three innings for Marshall, giving up three unearned runs on a hit and four walks while striking out a pair of batters. Tomasek then earned the win after giving up one earned run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts, while Wichmann pitched two scoreless, hitless innings with a strikeout and a walk to close out the victory.

With the game tied at three runs apiece in the fifth, Blomberg and Mensink singled and Wichmann was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs. Plante capitalized on the opportunity, getting hit by a pitch to drive in the go-ahead run, but a fly out ended the inning and Belle Plaine responded with an RBI double in the bottom of the frame to tie it back up.

Garrett Boblitt gave up three earned runs on seven walks and a trio of hits in his four-inning start for the Tigers while Colton Kerkow took the loss after giving up four earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks over two frames of work.

Tomasek led off the second with a walk and Toulouse drew another with two outs before Wichmann hit a two-run triple to give Marshall the game’s first runs.

In addition to Wichmann’s pair of hits, Mensink also singled twice while Toulouse and Tomasek each doubled with Toulouse drawing a pair of walks.

The Tigers surged ahead in the third when two walks and an error loaded the bases with two outs. A pair of wild pitches allowed the tying runs to score, and Andy Samela hit an RBI double to give the Tigers the lead.

Marshall tied the game back up in the fourth when Toulouse walked and scored on a Neubeck single with two outs.

No Tigers reached base multiple times in the game, though Samela, Melvin Maldonado and Ryan Brandenburg each doubled.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Marshall 7, Belle Plaine 4

The game was tied at 1-1 with two outs in the fourth when Schwagel stepped up to the plate and hit a solo home run to left field on the first pitch he faced, giving Marshall a one-run advantage.

Mensink pitched four innings to earn the win for the A’s on the mound. He limited the Clippers to one unearned run on two hits and a pair of walks while striking out a pair of Clippers.

The Marshall relief pitching held down the win from there. Blomberg and Bouwman pitched two and one scoreless innings, respectively, with Blomberg allowing one hit and one walk with three strikeouts, and Bouwman striking out one batter and walking another.

Wichmann scored in the bottom of the first when he singled, advanced to second on a Plante sacrifice bunt and scored on a Neubeck single.

Watkins tied the game back up with two outs in the third. Kevin Kramer singled, advanced to third when Max Geislinger reached base on an error by Schwagel and scored on a Carson Geislinger single.

Plante and Neubeck each had a pair of hits for Marshall, including a double for Neubeck, while Blomberg reached base twice on a single and a walk. Sarsland also doubled in the win.

Neubeck gave teh A’s some breathing room when he doubled and scored on a Brownlee single in the fifth.

Max Geislinger was charged with the loss for Watkins, giving up three earned runs on nine hits and a walk over five innings of work.

At the plate, Carson Geislinger led the team with a single and a double while Landon Neiman walked twice.