Packers baseball team gets a split in Winona

Published 12:06 am Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Austin baseball team had to settle for a split at Winona Tuesday — winning 9-5 and losing 6-5.

The Packers scored two runs early in the first inning of the first game and added four runs in a sixth inning that saw Brady Klingfus hit a solo homer to put it away.

Mark Harber picked up the win, allowing just one walk while striking out six.

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Austin also got a good pitching performance in the second game — Brady Klingfus walked one and allowed just two earned runs — but errors caught up to them.

The Packers (3-8 overall, 2-8 Big Nine) led 5-3 going into the top of the fifth of the nightcap and held onto a 5-4 lead with two outs when a miscue allowed the Winhawks to score two more times and take the lead for good.

Winona also scored three times in the third.

“Those two big innings hurt us. Brady threw a good game, but in both of the big innings our errors aided them,” Austin head coach Troy Watkins said. “We really wanted to get a sweep because we played pretty good baseball today, a lot better than we have been.”

Watkins was pleased with his pitchers’ control as they walked only two batters in 14 total innings.

“We played pretty good defense and our pitchers threw strikes,” Watkins said. “We had been giving up too many free passes so it was nice to see that change.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

Austin 2 0 0 1 2 4 0 9 10 2

Winona 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 5 10 2

Austin pitching: Mark Harber (W), 7 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 5 R, 3 ER, 6 K

Austin hitting: Harber, 2-for-4, RBI, 3 R; Adam Hemann, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs; Brady Klingfus, 2-for-4, HR, RBI, R; Joel Swatfager, 1-for-2, 2 R; Steven Rizzi, 1-for-4, R; Nate Wagner, 1-for-3, RBI, R; Preston Higbe, 1-for-3, BB

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

Winona 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 6 10 1

Austin 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 5 8 3

Austin pitching: Brady Klingfus (L), 7 IP, 10 H, 1 BB, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 K

Austin hitting: Steven Rizzi, 1-for-2, R, 2 BBs; Swatfager, 2-for-2, RBI, 2 BBs, R; Harber, 1-for-4, RBI, R; Nate Wagner, 1-for-2, 2 BBs; Hemann, 2-for-4, Jacob Winters, 1-for-2, 2 R