At the bottom of the ninth, Owen Kesteloot lined a single to center and scored when the Rails led a Cody Wichmann pop fly to short fall with two outs, allowing Kesteloot to score the tying run. AJ Toulouse was the last batter after Wichmann stole third, and Toulouse placed a ball into left field to drive in Wichmann for the walk-off.

With the pressure of the game on the line, in need of a hit to score the final run, Toulouse shared how he keeps cool in the heat of the moment.

“What I always come back to,” Toulouse said. “Taking a deep breath.”

After the A’s gave up a leadoff single in the top of the ninth, Josh Kraft caught a line drive at third and turned a double play. A walk put another runner on base for Willmar, but Marshall finished the top of the inning by fielding a ground out.

Photo by Dwayne Black: Marshall A's Jake Eben (left) throws a pitch against the Willmar Rails on Friday.

Marshall got off to a slow start when Willmar scored the first run of the game after Cullen Gregory hit a fly-ball double to drive in the game’s first run.

By the fourth inning, Willmar started to secure a safe lead, with a pair of errors by Wichmann and Kraft allowing the Rails to plate another three runs for a 4-0 lead.

It was after the top of the fourth Marshall needed to make a comeback, with head coach Zach Olson emphasizing one thing and one thing only, defense.

“Defense is what wins games,” Olson said.

The A’s took that to heart, and for the next five and a half innings, they didn’t let Willmar score a single run. Kesteloot’s pitching in the later innings only allowed four hits, striking out three over five scoreless innings of relief

Photo by Dwayne Black: Marshall A's Cody Wichmann connects at the plate against the Willmar Rails on Friday.

The A’s started their comeback in the bottom of the fourth when Wichmann hit a line-drive double and beat a throw home on a Connor Neubeck sacrifice fly to center field.

Jake Eben pitched the first four innings for Marshall, surrendering one earned run on four hits and six walks.

At the top of the 5th, the A’s shut down the Rails with a three-up, three-down inning. The A’s put two runners on in the sixth, but the Rails turned a double-play to keep their three-run lead intact.

Willmar loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, but Kesteloot got a strikeout and a ground out got Marshall out of the jam.

In the bottom of the 7th, Charlie Jacobson and Braxton Koster walked, and Andrew Cowden hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to two runs. Still, the Rails responded with a double-play to leave Koster stranded

In the bottom of the 8th, Toulouse walked and Neubeck singled, and Jacobson hit a hard grounder into center field to drive in Toulouse to bring Marshall within a run.

Marshall improves to 2-0 and next hosts Raymond on Sunday for another Corn Belt League matchup at 5 p.m.