Photo by Jake McNeill Marshall third baseman Liam Kruse (right) makes a throw to first base in the third inning of the A’s Corn Belt League matchup against the Wabasso Jaxx at City Field in Wabasso on Friday. The game was suspended in the bottom of the seventh due to Lightning, with Wabasso trailing 6-4.

WABASSO — The Marshall A’s and the Wabasso Jaxx were unable to be quicker than lightning in their Corn Belt League matchup on Friday at City Field. While the two played a fast-paced game, they weren’t able to reach a result before storms caused the game to be suspended with one out in the bottom of the seventh and the A’s leading 6-4.

Wabasso manager Dustin Tietz and Marshall manager Ryan Schwagel decided to suspend the game with the possibility of it being replayed if there are any playoff implications, Tietz said, adding that they have reached out to the Corn Belt League president about the teams’ options because all league games are supposed to be played by Sunday night. Both Marshall and Wabasso are already scheduled to play games on Sunday.

“We both said it doesn’t pay to try and stick around because, looking at the radar, we had guys telling us that it rained, what, an inch and a half in 10 minutes over there in Marshall,” Tietz said. “It isn’t worth sitting around.”

The game was tied through six innings when the Marshall bats stepped up in the top of the seventh. Liam Kruse was hit by a pitch and Talan Plante walked before Connor Neubeck hit a two-run double to give Marshall the lead.

Neubeck advanced to third on the throw home, but was tagged out at the plate when he tried to go home on a passed ball. From there, Wabasso got a line out and a strikeout to keep the game within reach.

Wabasso went up to bat in the bottom of the seventh, but the onset of heavy rain forced play to be suspended with one out and the tying run on deck.

A minimum of five innings were needed for the game to be considered a complete game. The A’s led 4-2 through five, but with the storm yet to fully roll in, play continued. The Jaxx took advantage of the opportunity and tied the game up.

Carter Guetter was hit by a pitch and Noah Anderson doubled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. CJ Theis came up with a clutch two-run double to knot up the score at four runs apiece, but a ground out and a fielder’s choice left him stranded on third.

“[It was] determination,” Tietz said of his team’s clutch rally. “Just keeping in the game mindset to get those runs on base and get those runs in,” Tietz said. “I mean, they were having fun. It wasn’t a tense moment, they were relaxed. So we just wanted to get the game tied, just in case, because we all knew that there were playoff implications.”

Jake Eben pitched the first five innings for Marshall, striking out seven batters while giving up one earned and one unearned run on two hits and a walk. Karson Rowe gave up two earned runs on two hits while getting one out while Ashton Blomberg pitched a scoreless, hitless inning before play was suspended.

Neubeck hit five home runs in three days over the weekend and continued to stay hot at the plate on Friday. After Liam Kruse drew a leadoff walk, Neubeck sent a two-run blast over the center field wall to give Marshall a 2-0 lead. The homer was Neubeck’s eighth of the season in 20 games.

Theis took over on the hill for Wabasso to start the third inning and was solid for the Jaxx for five innings of relief. He limited Marshall to three earned runs on five hits and a pair of walks after entering the game with his team facing a 3-0 deficit.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Wabasso pitcher CJ Theis covers home before applying a tag to Marshall outfielder Connor Neubeck during a Corn Belt Leauge baseball game agains the Marshall A’s on Friday at City Field in Wabasso.

Wabasso scored its first runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth. A Colton Taylor single and Guetter reaching on a fielder’s choice after Blomberg held Taylor at third put runners on the corners with one out. After Guetter stole second, Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to score Taylor and Theis reached base on an error to score Guetter and bring the Jaxx within a run.

Anderson pitched the first two innings for Wabasso, giving up three earned runs on a pair of hits and three walks.

Blomberg walked and stole two bases before scoring on a Zach Olsen sacrifice fly in the top of the second to extend Marshall’s lead to 3-0. The A’s also tacked on a run in the fifth when Kruse hit a solo home run to make the score 4-2 in favor of Marshall.

Neubeck finished the game with three hits and four RBIs, making him the only player with multiple hits in the game.

Theis also reached base multiple times for Wabasso with a double and a walk while Kruse, Ryan Schwagel and Coby Brownlee each recorded a hit and a walk for Marshall.

Marshall will wrap up its regular season on Sunday on the road when it takes on the Willmar Indians at 5 p.m. Wabasso will also be traveling to Willmar for a game against the Corn Belt League’s Willmar Rails slated for 1:30 p.m. Tietz noted that the Jaxx will make an effort to field as full of a roster as possible for the game after only having nine players available on Friday night.

BOX SCORE

MARSHALL

N. Anderson: 2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO; C. Theis: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO.