By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – After Wausau West put three runs on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning, it looked like the Marshfield baseball team was headed toward its seventh straight loss to open the season.
The Tigers weren’t about to feel sorry for themselves and rallied, scoring four times in the bottom of the seventh to knock off the seventh-ranked Warriors 6-5 on Tuesday at Jack Hackman Field in the Wisconsin Valley Conference opener for both teams.
Nick Anderson scored on a wild pitch, Josh Lutz delivered a two-run single and Austin Littmann finished off the rally with a bases-loaded single to score Elliot Ashbeck and give Marshfield its first victory of the season.
“I’m really proud of our guys, how they battled back,” Marshfield coach Mark Zee said. “The bottom of the order set the table for the top, and the top came through like they’ve been doing a lot this year.”
Four of Marshfield’s losses had been by one or two runs and the Tigers seemed destined to lose another close one.
Littmann, for one, didn’t see any quit in his teammates.
“Our team, we’re good,” Littmann said. “We’ve had some unlucky breaks, but we’re good.
“We were confident. We took it to them.”
Sully Luepke had a double and Ashbeck had a single on the first two pitches of the game from West pitcher Adam Kramer.
After a walk to Lutz, Brett Baur hit into a double play to plate the first run.
Marshfield added another in the third as Luepke led off by smoking a triple over Warriors right fielder Seth Wage and he scored on a single up the middle by Lutz.
Luepke, who struck out struck out five and walked two in six-plus innings, stranded four West baserunners in scoring position over the first four innings but the Warriors finally got to him in the fifth.
Dylan Mrozinski and Jake Lindmeier had RBI singles after a pair of walks to tie the game 2-2.
Luepke cruised through the sixth, but allowed a leadoff single in the seventh and was replaced by Ashbeck.
After a sacrifice bunt, Ashbeck issued a walk and gave up a two-run double to Mrozinski and an RBI single by Lindmeier that put the Warriors up 5-2.
Marshfield’s 4-through-9 hitters were 0-for-13 with two walks against Kramer heading into the seventh before finally getting to West’s ace right-hander.
After a strikeout, Anderson walked and No. 9 hitter Brendan Voss singled to start the rally. Luepke singled to load the bases before Anderson scored on a wild pitch. Ashbeck walked to reload the bases before Lutz delivered with his second run-scoring hit to tie the game at 5-5.
Baur bounced a grounder to second base on a drawn-in infield and the throw went to third base, where Ashbeck slide back in safely. Littmann followed with a single up the middle to end it.
“I was just trying to get a hit or get one in the outfield,” Littman said. “There was only one out, so maybe someone could tag up.”
Starting out the Valley season with a victory against one of the preseason favorites to win the title is just what the doctor ordered for the Tigers.
“We’ve had a pretty aggressive preseason here,” Zee said. “We’ve played six games in two weeks. Against a good team like West, to do it like this, I’m really proud of our kids and how they responded. Hopefully that carries into the rest of the year.”
Marshfield hosts Wisconsin Rapids on Friday.
Tigers 5, Warriors 4
Wausau West 000 020 3 – 5 9 0
Marshfield 101 000 4 – 6 8 2
WP: Elliot Ashbeck. LP: Adam Kramer.
SO: W, Kramer 7; M, Sully Luepke 5, Ashbeck 1. BB: Kramer 5; Luepke 2, Ashbeck 1.
Top hitters: W, Austin Priebe 2 runs; Dylan Mrozinski 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBIs; Jake Lindmeier 3-for-4, 2 RBIs. M, Luepke 3-for-4, 2B, 3B, 3 runs; Josh Lutz 2-for-3, 3 RBIs.
Records: West 2-1, 0-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Marshfield 1-6, 1-0 WVC.
