Austin senior Jacob Kempen hadn’t had a lot of varsity at bats before this season, but he’s starting to get much more comfortable at the plate and it paid off big time for the Packers Thursday.

Kempen lined a one-out single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh inning to knock in the game-winning run as Austin’s baseball team beat Winona 5-4 in Dick Seltz Field.

Kempen’s single scored Nate Conner, who doubled to lead off the inning.

“[Nate] ripped a double and that got us fired up. You couldn’t ask more from Nate there,” Kempen said. “I was just trying to hit the ball hard. They were up and anything past the infield, I figured we’d score. It feels good to come out on top in this one. We battled all game and we made a few mistakes, but it’s nice to come back and learn from the game on Tuesday and get a win in this one.”

Austin had lost its last two games after leading late and it almost looked like that was going to happen again to the Packers (1-2 overall, 1-2 Big Nine) on Thursday. Austin took a 4-2 lead in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Ethan Horstmann, but the Winhawks (0-2 overall, 0-2 Big Nine) tied things up at 4-4 in the sixth. Winona had the go-ahead run on third with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Austin third baseman Steven Clennon scooped up a grounder and threw out Winona’s Matthew Clark by a step to end the frame.

“‘I’ve been challenging them to find a way and have that heart to dig deep and create a win,” Austin head coach Chris Gogolewski said. “The last two games we had a lead and let it slip away. We worked really hard to not let that happen again tonight.”

Austin’s defense played a big role in the win. Isaac Schumacher made a big running grab in center field to shorten Winona’s rally in the sixth and Shane Johannsen made two highlight catches in right field to keep the Packers in it. In the fifth, Johannsen made a running reaching grab to get the last out of the inning when Winona had runners on first and second and Johannsen, who hadn’t played right field before Thursday, made a running, over the shoulder catch to rob Winona of an extra base hit in the fourth inning.

“My adrenaline was pumping, but I knew that if you want to win, you’ve got to make plays. I guess I had a lot of luck on my side, but a lot of skill as well,” Johannsen, a junior, said. “We wanted it bad. We were out there to go get it. We needed to turn it around and get our season going.”

Conner, a sophomore, is adjusting to his first season on the varsity squad quite well. He played shortstop on Thursday and he also went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Conner’s seventh inning double was hit right into the gap in left field.

“I hit the ball right in the sweet spot there,” Conner said “I like [going against varsity pitching] so far. The ball comes straight in and fast, except for curve balls, obviously. I’m still trying to adjust to those.”

Gogolewski is hoping Thursday’s win gives his squad momentum.

“We want to use this and put a couple together,” he said. “We want to establish ourselves as a good, competitive team in the BIg Nine this year.”

Winona 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 — 4 6 0

Austin 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 — 5 8 3

Austin pitching: Nik Gasner, 5 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 K, 1 HBP; Ethan Horstmann, 2 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 R, 1 ER

Austin hitting: Isaac Schumacher, 1-for-4, R, SB; Nate Conner, 3-for-4, double, 2 R; Gasner, 1-for-3, RBI, HBP; Jacob Kempen, 1-for-3, RBI; Steven Clennon, 0-for-1, BB, HBP; Horstmann, 2-for-2, 2 RBIs, R; Dylan Gasner, 0-for-2, BB; Shane Johannsen, 0-for-2; Alex Ciola, 0-for-2, RBI