Photo by Jake McNeill: Hadley shortstop Derek Kluis runs home for to score for the Buttermakers during a non-league matchup against the Marshall A’s on Wednesday at Legion Field in Marshall. The Buttermakers defeated the A’s 6-3.

MARSHALL — Lincoln Swanjord pitched lights out for the Hadley Buttermakers in their non-league matchup against the Marshall A’s on Wednesday. He struck out 11 batters over six innings to earn the win as Hadley came out on top 6-3, with the Buttermakers’ offense churning out 12 hits to Marshall’s three.

“I think coming off a bad game last night [in a 6-0 loss to Luverne], kind of bouncing back tonight is pretty big,” Hadley third baseman Jacob Olson said. “[We were] seeing the baseball well and everybody’s helping each other out. The older guys helping the younger guys, and the younger guys doing everything they can… They just came off a spring season, so helping us old guys get through it.”

Hadley scored a run in the sixth inning to claim the lead. Olson hit a leadoff single, advanced to third on a bunt and a wild pitch and scored the go-ahead run on a Brody Wixon single. Dylan Kluis then hit a ground ball to short, and a throwing error by Josh Kraft at third allowed another run to score for a 5-3 Hadley edge. 

Swanjord limited Marshall to one hit and four walks. He shut out Marshall for five of the six innings he pitched, with two of the three runs he allowed being unearned. He attributed his success on the hill to working through his struggles and being able to refocus after the third inning.

“I just think about my fundamentals when I’m throwing bad. I usually know what’s wrong, like it’s my stride if I throw it high,” Swanjord said. “If I throw it high, I need to stride farther. If I throw it low, I usually just grip it wrong.”

“First guy was just blowing it right past us, just throwing fastballs,” Marshall manager Ryan Schwagel said. “We’re just missing and not a lot of good contact, and couldn’t get any hits off the fastball today.”

Austin Irlbeck reached on a fielder’s choice after a Tucker Sorenson walk and Derek Kluis singled to put runners on first and second in the first inning. 

After a fielder’s choice put two away, Olson hit a fly ball to shallow right-center field that just eluded the glove of a diving AJ Toulouse to drive in one run, and Alex Peterson hit a fly ball to shallow left field that just evaded the glove of a diving Ashton Blomberg to give Hadley a 2-0 lead.

Hadley committed just one error on the night while Marshall finished with four, with that clean defense being a big part of the win, according to Olson.

“It’s great to see us play great defense, that’s been a big Achilles heel for us,” Olson said. “But other than that, it’s fun to see these guys. We don’t get to play them that often. A lot of us know each other or have played against each other for so long that it’s good to see them. I wish them good luck, they should win their division, too.”

Marshall got all of its offense in the bottom of the third. Coby Brownlee took a pitch to the dome to lead off the inning for Marshall. He advanced to third on a pickoff error and a dropped third strike, and got Marshall on the board on Toulouse’s sacrifice fly to center field. 

The A’s continued to battle with two outs when Connor Neubeck was hit by a pitch and Plante walked. A wild pitch put both runners into scoring position and, facing a full count, Josh Kraft lined a ball to the ivy in left field for a two-run double to tie the game at three runs apiece.

The Buttermaker bats continued to roll in the second when Wixon, Dylan Kluis and Tucker Sorenson loaded the bases on a trio of singles. Blomberg fielded an Irlbeck ground ball at second to turn a 4-6-3 double-play, but Wixon scored on the play to increase Hadley’s cushion to three runs.  

Plante pitched the first five innings for Marshall, settling down after allowing three runs on six hits in his first two frames on the mound. He finished his outing allowing three earned runs on eight hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts before being relieved by Jake Eben. 

Derek Kluis added an insurance run for Hadley in the seventh when he doubled to left field and scored when Max Zwart reached on an error to bring the score to 6-3.

Already holding a three-run lead, Hadley threatened to score on a pair of Marshall miscues in the ninth. Derek Kluis reached base on an error by Kesteloot at short, advanced to second on a Zwart walk, and the two runners advanced into scoring position when an Olson fly ball to right field knocked Zach Olsen’s glove off and fell for a hit. Yet, Logan Terfehr struck out consecutive batters to keep the A’s deficit at three runs. 

Avery Weber earned the save for Hadley with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning.

Eben took a line drive off his glove-side wrist in the eighth. After the team convened on the mound to evaluate the injury, Eben continued to pitch after taking a few warmup throws and ended the inning with a strikeout. He finished his three-inning relief appearance with two earned runs and one unearned run allowed on four hits with three strikeouts.

Marshall threatened to score in the bottom of the seventh when Olsen singled and Plante and Kraft were hit by pitches with two outs. Yet, Owen Gillette came up with a strikeout to escape the bases-loaded jam unscathed and finish his two-inning shutout relief appearance with six strikeouts on two hits and no walks.

Marshall flashed the leather in the middle infield in the top of the fourth. Blomberg fielded a grounder and flipped it to Andrew Stelter at second for one out, just a second shy of a double play. In the next at-bat, Stelter completed the double play by fielding a grounder on the run, tagging second and making a jump-throw to first to end the inning.

Hadley improves to 13-7 on the season with the win while Marshall falls to 10-7. The two teams will meet again soon, with Hadley hosting the A’s on Saturday at 2 p.m.

“We had some good at-bats, but other than that, we threw pretty good guys to get some innings in there, but a couple of errors and just three hits isn’t going to get the job done in any ballgame,” Schwagel said.

BOX SCORE

HADLEY

Batting

T. Sorenson: 1-4, BB; A. Irlbeck: 0-4; De. Kluis: 2-4 (2B); M. Zwart: 0-4, BB; J. Olson: 3-4, RBI; A. Peterson: 1-3, RBI; M. Preuss: 0-0, SB; L. Graven: 0-3, HBP; B. Wixon: 3-4, RBI, SB; Dy. Kluis: 2-4, RBI. 

Pitching

L. Swanjord: W, 6 IP, H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 11 SO; O. Gillette: 2 IP, 2 H, 6 SO. A. Weber: S, IP, 2 SO. 

MARSHALL

Batting

C. Neubeck: 0-3, HBP; T. Plante: 0-1, 2 BB, HBP; J. Kraft: 1-3 (2B), 2 RBI, HBP; K. Rowe: 0-0, HBP; L. Kruse: 1-1; A. Stelter: 0-3, BB, SB; C. Brownlee: 0-2, HBP; Z. Olsen: 1-1, HBP; A. Toulouse: 0-1, RBI, BB, SB. 

Pitching

T. Plante: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 2 SO; J. Eben: L, 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 SO; L. Terfehr: IP, 2 SO.