The Austin Post 91 Legion baseball team survived an early scare to take game one against the Rochester Patriots and it used that momentum to finish off a sweep in Marcusen Park Tuesday.

Austin won the opener 9-8 and it took the nightcap 9-5.

Zach Huntley gave Austin (8-6 overall) a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the sixth of the opener when he drilled a one-out RBI double to right field.

“In the at-bat before I just missed it by a couple of inches,” Huntley said. ” I knew if I could get another pitch like that I’d be able to hit a gapper and I ended up getting it into the jet stream and got it over the guy’s head.”

Austin had trailed the contest 6-1 after one and a half innings, but it wasn’t about to give up. Austin pulled to within 7-5 in the third when Steven Clennon and Dylan Gasner had back-to-back RBI singles with two outs and Austin took an 8-7 lead in the fifth when Dylan Gasner tripled in a run with two outs and Daniel Bollingberg doubled in a run with two outs.

“We started out flat, which we’ve tended to do and it’s something we’ll hopefully learn from,” Austin co-head coach Joe Kroc said. “Tonight, luckily, we fought and clawed our way back.”

Austin relief pitcher Jacob Kempen stepped up in game one as he allowed zero hits and zero earned runs in three innings of work. Kempen came into the game in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out and he pitched out of that jam.

“I was just trying to limit the damage. I knew we could hit their guy and score runs, so we didn’t think the deficit was too bad,” Kempen said. “I don’t remember the last time we swept a team in Legion or high school ball. It’s a big win for us and hopefully we can turn it around and keep a winning streak going.”

Austin took a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning of the nightcap when it scored a couple of runs off a Patriots miscue and Dylan Gasner singled in a run.

Rochester pulled to within 5-4 in the top of the fifth, but Austin answered in the bottom of the fifth when Isaac Schumacher knocked in a run with a bunt single. Huntley knocked in two runs in the bottom of the sixth to put Post 91 up 9-4.

“Our offensive approach tonight was much better than it was in Winona,” Kroc said. “Hopefully we can build off of that.”

Pats 3 3 1 0 0 1 0 — 8 6 1

Austin 0 2 3 0 3 1 X — 9 8 4

Austin pitching: Isaac Schumacher, 2 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 K, 1 HBP; Jacob Kempen, 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 HBP; Steven Clennon (W) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, HBP

Austin hitting: Daniel Bollingberg, 2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs; Nate Conner, 0-for-4; Nik Gasner, 1-for-3, R, BB; Jordan Hart, 1-for-2, 2 R, 2 BBs; Ethan Horstmann, 0-for-2, RBI, R, BB; Zach Huntley, 1-for-3, double, RBI, R, BB; Alex Ciola, 0-for-1, R, 2 BBs; Clennon, 1-for-2, RBI, R, BB; Dylan Gasner, 2-for-2, triple, 3 RBIs, R; Schumacher, 0-for-1

Pats 0 0 1 0 3 0 1 — 5 11 3

Austin 0 0 1 4 2 2 X — 9 8 1

Austin pitching: Nik Ganser (W) 6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 K; Clennon, 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER

Austin hitting: Bollingberg, 0-for-3, R; Dylan Gasner, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs; Nik Gasner, 3 BBs; Hart, 0-for-3; Horstmann, 1-for-3, 2 R, BB; Huntley, 1-for-4, 2 RBIs; Clennon, 0-for-4; Hunter Lewis, 0-for-2, R; Schumacher, 2-for-2, 2 R, SB, BB; Conner, R, BB; Brady McDermott, 1-for-1, R; Shawn Case, 0-for-1, R; Mitch Truax, 0-for-1