The Austin Greyhounds opened up Marcusen Park with a bang Sunday when they topped New Ulm Kaiserhoff 8-2 in an amateur baseball game.

The Hounds racked up six hits in the second inning to go up 5-0 early on in their home opener.

Nick Rohne and Nick Bowe had RBI-singles and Craig Braaten grounded out for an RBI in the second.

“We’ve been working a little harder this summer to try and get ready,” Hounds manager Matt Cano said. “We’ve seen some good pitching and we’ve been hitting pretty well.”

While Cano had two doubles and John Frein added another two-bagger, the Hounds (4-2 overall) also showed their patience, slapping eight singles in the win.

“We strung along a lot of singles, which is good,” Cano said. “We didn’t try to do too much. Usually when things aren’t going well, you try and do too much and that’s when you get some bad habits. Hopefully we can continue with some good at-bats.”

While the Hounds’ bats were putting the game away, Zach Schara was cruising on the mound as he struck out 11 in six innings without allowing a run.

It was Schara’s first lengthy action of the year as he previously pitched just one inning against Albert Lea last week.

“It felt all right. My main goal is just to try to throw strikes and get outs. That’s the most important thing right now,” he said. “I don’t worry about (the other team’s lineup). I’m more focused one I need to do.”

Cano said the best is yet to come from Schara.

“This is just the start,” he said. “I know he’s got more in him than he’s shown today, even though today was a pretty good outing.”

New Ulm 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 2 6 4

Hounds 2 3 0 0 2 1 0 0 X— 8 11 2

Hounds pitching: Zach Schara (W), 6 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 9 R, 11 K, HBP; Alex Kasak, 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, HBP

Hounds hitting: Nick Rohne, 2-for-5, RBI, 2 R; Nick Bowe, 1-for-4, RBI, R; Matt Cano, 3-for-4, 2 doubles, RBI, R; Craig Braaten, 0-for-4, RBI, R, BB; Tyler Leopold, 2-for-3, BB; Dan Zielke, 1-for-5; Byan Toov, 0-for-3, HBP; John Kirby, 0-for-3, R, SB; John Frein, 1-for-2, double, 2 R, BB; Adam Hemann, 1-for-1, RBI; Mitch Kaplan, 0-for-1; Gabe Kasak, 0-for-1