Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall's Andrew Lee (right) and Andrew Stelter celebrate after the final out of Marshall's 2AAA quarterfinal win over Worthington, Wednesday in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The top-seeded Marshall baseball team got off to a slow start in its Section 2AAA tournament opener against No. 8 Worthington on Wednesday. The Tigers gave up four first-inning runs and trailed most of the game, but rallied in the bottom of the sixth to claim a 6-4 win.

“We haven’t come out the greatest in a lot of games, but we know we’re got, we’ve just got to fight through it and bring energy to each other,” Marshall shortstop Andrew Lee, who drove in the go-ahead run for the Tigers, said. “We came out a little slow today, but fix it on Saturday and we should be good.”

Trailing 4-3 heading into the sixth, Chase Alcorn got on base with a leadoff walk and scored the game-tying run on an Ethan Weedman double. Andrew Lee kept the energy up with a go-ahead RBI single in the next at-bat, and Andrew Stelter doubled home Lee to give the Tigers their first lead of the day, 6-4.

“I was just really excited. The guy in front of me got on second base, I had a job to do, and that was a big run,” Lee said. “We needed it and I was just trying to run as hard as I could to get to second base.”

The Trojans retired the next two batters after Stelter to enter the seventh trailing by a pair of runs, but Noah Pieper didn’t give the Trojans the opportunity to strike back. He got a weak ground out and an infield pop out in the first two at-bats of the frame, and he got a whiff in the game’s final at-bat to close the win with a strikeout, letting out a yell in excitement after the final out.

“Just felt after that big inning, I knew I had to come in and close the door, and I just had to let all my emotion out right there,” Pieper said.

Pieper entered the game as a relief pitcher in the fourth with Marshall trailing 4-2. He had little room for error in the mound outing, but he didn’t need any margin at all; he held Worthington scoreless and hitless over 3 2/3 innings, striking out seven batters while walking two.

When he entered the game, Pieper’s approach was to try to just throw strikes and force Worthington to swing at pitches because he knew he could trust the defense behind him, Pieper said.

Marshall head coach Pollock said that he felt that Pieper’s ability to consistently go up 0-1 in the count helped him get momentum on the mound, adding that Pieper’s fastball had some good movement to it.

While Marshall struggled with pop outs and failing to put the ball in play early on, Pollock said that he felt the team made strides at the plate as the game progressed.

“As the game went along, we were hitting the ball hard, and our guys deserved that,” Pollock said. “They played really well on defense today too, and that was the difference.”

Worthington strung together five hits to generate four first-inning runs. Three of those four runs came with two out, but Marshall’s pitching and defense kept Worthington off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

A walk to Lee and singles by Levi Maeyaert and Trae Bailey loaded the bases for Marshall with one out in the bottom of the third. Pieper hit a sacrifice fly to score Lee, but a pop out ended the inning two runners left stranded and the Tigers facing a 4-2 deficit.

Lee led Marshall offensively on the day with a double, a single, a walk and two RBIs in two at-bats. Stelter also logged a double and a single, while Levi Maeyaert singled twice.

The Tigers got a run back in the bottom of the first when Stelter hit a leadoff single and scored on a two-out single by Pieper.

Carson Mensink made his second career varsity appearance for Marshall in the game, pitching the first 3 1/3 innings for the Tigers. He settled down after the first inning, going on to pitch the first 3 1/3 frames. He held the Trojans without a hit after the first, ending the day with four strikeouts and three walks.

Tyler Kraft reached base on an error in the fourth, was replaced on first base when Ethan Weedman reached on a fielder’s choice, and Lee doubled home Weedman to bring Marshall within a run.

The Tigers improve to 19-5 on the season with the win and take on No. 4 New Ulm in the section quarterfinals on Saturday at 11 a.m. The semifinal matchup will be played at Johnson Park in New Ulm, and the loser of the game will play a second game against Jordan or St. Peter in the elimination bracket at 5 p.m.

“Definitely bring energy, throw strikes and play defense,” Lee said of the key to Saturday’s semifinals. “When we do that, we’re the best team in the section for a reason.”

BOX SCORE

BATTING

A. Stelter: 2-4 (2B), RBI, R, SB; L. Maeyaert: 2-4; T. Bailey: 1-4; N. Pieper: 1-2, 2 RBI; C. Alcorn: 0-0, BB, R; Et. Weedman: 1-3 (2B), RBI, 2 R, SO; A. Lee: 2-2 (2B), BB, 2 RBI, 2 R.

PITCHING

C. Mensink: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO; N. Pieper: W, 3.2 IP, 2 BB, 7 SO.