Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall second baseman Peyton Grant skips over a tag from Wabasso catcher Carter Guetter during a Corn Belt League game at Legion Field on Wednesday, in which the A’s defeated the Jaxx 10-0 in seven innings.

MARSHALL — A strong start, a strong finish and quality pitching paved the way for the Marshall A’s to get back to .500 in their Corn Belt League matchup against the Wabasso Jaxx on Wednesday night at Legion Field. The A’s scored three runs in the first two innings and seven runs in the last two, and lockdown defense shut out the Jaxx to give Marshall the 10-0 win in seven innings.

Coby Brownlee fouled off three pitches before drawing a leadoff walk for Marshall. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Talan Plante and scored the go-ahead run on a Connor Neubeck grounder up the middle that reached center field.

In the third, a Peyton Grant double and a Josh Kraft single put runners on the corners. Grant went home for one run as Kraft stole second, and Kraft stole third before scoring on an Andrew Stelter sacrifice fly to right field to make the score 3-0.

Liam Kruse pitched five shutout innings for Marshall in his start, striking out seven Jaxx while allowing two hits and three walks to earn the win. 

“I definitely felt like I had more control in my slider today than usual. I was using it to get ahead in at-bats and try to finish them off like 0-2 or 1-2,” Kruse said of his first start in an A’s uniform this year after finishing off his prep career with the Marshall Tigers over the weekend. “The first start is always a good thing, and I did pretty well in it.”

Joe Liebl settled down for Wabasso after giving up three earned runs in his first two innings on the mound. He followed up with three shutout innings and exited after the fifth with three strikeouts and five hits and four walks allowed. 

The A’s led the game wire-to-wire, but it was the sixth when they really pulled away. Grant, Kraft, Stelter, AJ Toulouse and Brownlee drew six consecutive walks to force in a pair of runs. Stelter scored on a passed ball and a dropped third strike allowed Toulouse and Brownlee to advance into scoring position, and Connor Neubeck drilled a double over the head of the Wabasso left fielder to cap off Marshall’s five-run inning with an 8-0 lead. 

“Obviously there are a lot of good players on this team. We have some older guys, we have some younger guys just coming out of high school or still in high school, there’s a lot of good baseball coming through the Marshall baseball program,” Grant said. “They just know how to play the game, play it well, grind through the rough patches and are doing well. It just really showed at the plate with the discipline there.”

Neubeck finished with a double and a single with three RBIs to lead the Marshall bats. Josh Kraft also logged two singles and a walk while Grant finished with a double and a walk. Toulouse, meanwhile, accounted for three of the A’s 10 walks.

For the Jaxx, Adryen Tietz and Carter Guetter each singled to account for the team’s lone hits. Caleb Kemp was the lone Wabasso batter to safely reach base twice, drawing a pair of walks.

Logan Terfehr and Mitch Bouwman each pitched a scoreless, hitless inning of relief. Bouwman struck out two batters without allowing a walk while Terfehr gave up a pair of walks while striking out a batter.

Cooper Mensink and Noah Frazee each singled for Marshall in the seventh and a two-run single into right field by Zach Olsen gave the A’s the mercy-rule win. 

Marshall finished the game with 15 different players taking an at-bat and another three taking the mound. The early lead gave the A’s the luxury of giving their younger players some in-game reps.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s easy to sit back and grind through games and maybe lose some close ones, but when you’re able to get ahead and get everyone in the game, it’s just fun in the dugout,” Grant said. “You see everyone having a good time and that’s really what it’s about. Baseball is fun and that’s what we’re here to do.”

Max Fuhr gave up four earned runs on four walks without getting an out in a relief appearance for Wabasso. Noah Anderson gave up another run on two walks and a hit while getting two outs, while Josh Guetter gave up two runs on three hits over one frame on the hill.

Marshall improves to 3-3 on the year with the win and next hosts the Willmar Rails on Saturday at 1 p.m. Wabasso falls to 2-3 and goes on the road to do battle with the Pipestone A’s on Saturday at 11 a.m.