Austin Packers baseball team edges Rochester Mayo 5-4 Thursday

In a game you heard on AM 1480 KAUS, the Austin Packers baseball team was in search of win number two in a row Thursday as they traveled to Mayo Field in Rochester to take on the Mayo Spartans in a Big 9 Conference matchup, and it was the Packers holding off a late surge by the Spartans to win by a score of 5-4.

The Packers struck for two runs in the top of the first inning off of sophomore starter Isaac Peterson as Isaac Osgood walked to start the game, Ethan Anderson singled, Peyton Ransom then drew a walk to load the bases, and an RBI single off the bat of Dakota Retterath gave Austin a 1-0 lead.  A bases-loaded walk with two outs three batters later to Noah Dunlap gave the Packers a 2-0 lead, and after Mayo pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Austin lead to 2-1, the Packers struck for three massive runs in the top of the fifth when Retterath led off with a single.  Left-handed hitting right fielder Hadyn Quitmeyer then followed with a single of his own, and desginated hitter Benton Purkapile then hit a grounder the short that could have led to a double play, but an error instead scored Retterath to make the score 3-1.  Isaiah Conway then greeted reliever Alex Sadowy with an RBI single to plate Quitmeyer to put Austin on top 4-1, and after a popup to first base and a walk, Osgood reached on another Spartans error, this one at second base that scored Purkapile to give the Packers a 5-1 lead.  Senior Captain Peyton Ransom got the start on the mound and held the Spartans to just the one run through four innings when shortstop Kyle Leopold doubled to start the bottom of the fifth, and he then then scored on an errant pickoff throw into centerfield, coupled with a throw from centerfield into the Mayo dugout to cut Austin’s lead to 5-2.  The Spartans then rallied with two out in the bottom of the sixth as two singles, an error and two walks brought in two runs to cut the Packers lead to 5-4, but Ransom then got third baseman Mikey Johnson to line out to first baseman Cooper Napton with the bases loaded to end the threat.  Freshman lefthander Jonah Klein then came in for the seventh inning, and he picked up a pair of strikeouts in the process of setting down the Spartans 1-2-3 to earn the save.

Dakota Retterath helped to lead Austin offensively Thursday as he rapped out three of the team’s 11 hits in four trips to the plate, and he added an RBI and a run scored, Isaiah Conway went 2 for 2 with a pair of RBI’s, Hadyn Quitmeyer went 2 for 4 for the day with a run scored, and Ethan Anderson was 2 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen base.  Peyton Ransom earned the win on the mound as he gave up the four Spartan runs, one earned, on eight hits, striking out seven and walking three.

With their second win in a row, the Packers are now 4-5 on the season, and the squad will be back in action next Monday evening in Stewartville versus the yet-unbeaten Tigers in a Section 1AAA matchup, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. that evening.