After dropping the opener 9-4 to Albert Lea, the Austin baseball team turned up its intensity on defense to beat the Tigers 8-5 in the nightcap of a doubleheader in Dick Seltz Field Tuesday.

The Packers had just one error in the win, but it was the big plays they made that helped them get the win.

“In the second game we made plays and the first game we didn’t make plays and that’s the difference,” Austin head coach Troy Watkins said. “There were a number of nice plays out there (in the nightcap). (Nik) Gasner made a nice running catch and (Zach) Huntley made a nice play.”

The Packers (4-9 overall, 3-8 Big Nine) looked to be in trouble as early as the first inning of the nightcap when AL scored a run and had a runners on first and second with one out, but Jacob Thompson struck out Makael Lunning and catcher Gabe Kasak threw out an AL runner at third who was trying to steal to end the frame.

The Austin defense stepped up again in the second when Thompson picked up a grounder, threw to shortstop Marcus Stoulil, who tagged second and threw to first for an inning ending double play. In the third inning, it was freshman Nik Gasner who made a running catch at the left field fence with two runners on to end the frame.

“The defense is definitely coming back and that’s what we’ve been waiting for all year,” said Austin first baseman Zach Huntley. “Our hitting’s been there all year, we’ve just been waiting for the defense to come through.”

AL (7-3 overall, 6-3 Big Nine) finally tied the game at three when they hit three doubles in the fourth inning. But Thompson struck out Dylan SeeRockers with the bases loaded and one out and he got Jonathan Fleek to ground out to end the inning.

“I had a lot of confidence because the defense played real well,” Thompson said. “We totally won that game because we played as nine guys and I owe them.”

Austin took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth when Anthony Condit singled in a run to make it 4-3 and Gabe Kasak doubled in another run. The Packers went up 7-3 when AL dropped a fly ball by Huntley that allowed two more runs to score.

Thompson picked up the mound win in the nightcap and he said it was a victory his team needed.

“It was big (to win the nightcap), not just because it’s against our rivals but also because we’ve been down this year and splitting a series against a good team like this is a big confidence booster,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a lot of these to come.”

Austin struggled at the plate in the opener as they struck out 13 times.

“We just couldn’t lay off the curve ball,” Watkins said. “We just couldn’t adjust to it and we’ve got to make those adjustments and we didn’t.”

AL broke the game open after a catcher’s interference call loaded the bases in the top of the third with one out. Cody Haaland hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 Tigers and Houston Sharpe launched a three-run double deep into right field to make it 5-1.

With the victory in the nightcap, Austin now has more wins than it did all of last season.

 

AL 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 — 5 14 3

Austin 3 0 0 5 0 0 X — 8 8 1

Austin pitching: Jacob Thompson (W), 7 IP, 14 H, 2 BB, 5 ER, 6 K

Austin hitting: Gabe Kasak, 2-for-4, double, RBI, 2 R, SB; Zach Huntley, 0-for-2, R, 2 BBs; Marcus Stoulil, 1-for-3, R, BB; Thompson, 0-for-2, RBI, BB; Nik Gasner, 0-for-3; Hunter Gleason, 1-for-2, 2 RBIs, R, BB; Trevor Feuerhak, 1-for-2, R; Tommy Olmsted, 1-for-2, R, BB; Anthony Condit, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, R; Zach Wilder, 0-for-1

AL 1 0 4 0 2 2 0 — 9 9 2

Austin 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 — 4 6 2

Austin pitching: Stoulil, 5 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 R, 6 ER, 4 K, HBP; Tyler Bellknap, 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER

Austin hitting: Kasak, 2-for-4, SB; Huntley, 0-for-2, BB; Stoulil, 1-for-3, RBI, R, SB; Thompson, 1-for-4, RBI; Gasner, 0-for-4; Feueurhak, 0-for-1, 2 BBs; Gleason, 0-for-2, BB; Olmsted, 1-for-3, R; Sean Coffey, 0-for-2; Condit, 2 R; Bellknap, 1-for-1