Austin Packers baseball falls to Rochester John Marshall 12-8 in regular season finale

The Austin Packers baseball team played host to the Rochester John Marshall Rockets in the regular season finale for both squads at Dick Seltz Field Thursday, and an 8-run top of the third inning proved to be the difference in a 12-8 win for the Rockets.

Austin led 4-1 after two innings with four runs crossing the plate in the bottom of the second, but the Rockets answered back with the eight-run top of the third to take a 9-4 lead.  The Packers pushed across single runs in the third and fourth innings to cut the Rockets lead to 9-6, but John Marshall came back with a three-run top of the fifth inning to push their lead to six runs at 12-6.  Austin answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 12-8, but they would get no closer as the Rockets held on the rest of the way for the win.

Offensively for the Packers, Brayden Bishop went 2 for 2 with a double, a triple, an RBI and two runs scored to help lead the way, and Ethan Anderson was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

With the loss, Austin finishes the regular season with a record of 8-12, and the Packers will be the No. 5 seed in the Section 1AAA playoffs, where their opponent Saturday will be the No. 4 seeded Stewartville Tigers, and first pitch for the quarterfinal matchup between the two squads is scheduled for 1 p.m.  You’ll hear the game live on AM 1480 KAUS Saturday afternoon, with the pre-game show getting underway at 12:50 p.m.