Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall shortstop Andrew Stelter fields a ground ball during a non-league baseball game against the Hanska Lakers at Legion Field in Marshall on Wednesday.

MARSHALL — Haska’s hitting was too much for the Marshall A’s to match in a non-league baseball game on Wednesday at Legion Field. The Lakers surged ahead in the fifth inning and never looked back, claiming a 6-1 win.

“Just have some good, relaxed fun. You always want to win and be competitive, and only five hits kind of stinks, but that’s how baseball goes,” Marshall manager Ryan Schwagel said of the non-league matchup. “We still made some good contact, just couldn’t find the gaps today.”

Hanska took the lead for good in the top of the fifth. Chris Knowles singled into right field and scored from first on a Derek Wilfahrt single to straightaway center. An inning later, the Lakers added another pair of runs when Eric Portner and Alex Stresemann reached on an error and a hit-by-pitch, and Kaden Larson hit a ground ball into left field for a two-run single and a 4-1 Hanska lead.

Marshall and Hanska traded runs in the third to break the tension. A Levi Franta double and a Knowles single put two runners on with no outs, and Tanner Olson hit a sacrifice fly to center to give Hanska the game’s first run. In the bottom of the frame, Marshall answered when Andrew Cowden singled and Coby Brownlee followed up with an RBI double to center field to tie the game back up at one run apiece.

Plante left the game with a no-decision in his first pitching appearance of the season for Marshall after giving up one earned run on five hits and four walks over four innings of work. He also struck out five batters.

In relief, Karson Rowe gave up three earned and two unearned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts over four innings. Dillon Loft also made his season debut with a scoreless ninth, striking out two of the five batters he faced. 

“That won’t be the last you see of [Plante and Loft] for sure,” Schwagel said of the two making their season debuts. “But it was a fun game. Got some new guys out of position a little bit, Ashton [Blomberg] playing third base too, that’s a new position for him. Couple guys catching for us that don’t and it’s just a fun game.”

Hanska added to its lead in the top of the seventh when Wilfahrt doubled and scored on an Aaron Portner single. 

Portner pitched the first eight innings for Hanska, limiting Marshall to one earned run on five hits. He walked one batter while striking out four. Evan Mixdorf closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning.

An Owen Kesteloot single and walks to Andrew Stelter and Loft loaded the bases for the A’s with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but a ground out left all three runners stranded. 

Larson singled for the Lakers to lead off the top of the first, and an Olson single and a Wilfahrt walk loaded the bases with two outs. Yet, Talan Plante came up with a strikeout for the third out of the frame to escape the jam.

Marshall falls to 10-6 on the year with the loss and will look to bounce back after the Independence Day break with a pair of games against the Hadley Buttermakers. Marshall will host Hadley at Legion Field on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before going on the road for a matchup against the Buttermakers on Saturday at 2 p.m.

BOX SCORE

Marshall

Batting

A. Toulouse: 0-3, HBP; C. Brownlee: 1-4 (2B), RBI; O. Kesteloot: 2-2. A. Blomberg: 1-4 (2B); A. Stelter: 1-3, BB; D. Loft: 0-2, 2 BB; A. Cowden: 1-3.

Pitching

T. Plante: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO; K. Rowe: L, 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 5 SO; D. Loft: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 SO.

Hanska

Batting

K. Larson: 2-6, 2 RBI; L. Franta: 3-6 (2B); C. Knowles: 2-3, BB, HBP; T. Olson: 2-4 (2B), 2 RBI; D. Wilfahrt: 2-4 (2B), RBI, BB; A. Portner: 2-4, RBI; A. Stresemann: 0-3, HBP; B. Wellmann: 0-3, BB; N. Stresemann: 0-3, BB.

Pitching

A. Portner: W, 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO; E. Mixdorf: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 SO.