Post-Bulletin staff
WINONA — The Austin Packers baseball team split a Big Nine Conference doubleheader with the Winona Winhawks on Tuesday.
Mark Harber recorded his first pitching win of the season in the opener. Harber had six strikeouts for the Packers in the 9-5 win.
Errors spoiled the possibility of a sweep in the late game. The Packers committed three errors in a 6-5 loss.
Brady Klingfus hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth to lead the Packers offensive display in the opener. Klingfus would take the hard-luck loss on the mound in the late game as the defense melted down.
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"Our pitchers threw hard and only had one walk in each game," Austin coach Troy Watkins said.
"Overall, defensively we turned four double plays, but there were just some goofy plays that led to errors."
Harber helped his cause in the first game with two hits and three runs scored. Adam Hemann also had two hits in the win.
The late game was a different story due to the errors. The Packers had eight hits and held the lead in the middle innings, but the Winhawks rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth and that was the difference. The game was a make up from last week, and so Austin was the home team.
"In the top of the fifth, we had two outs and appeared to be out of the inning," Watkins said. "They then hit a ground ball to shortstop and we dropped it on the throw to first base. They went on to score two more runs to take the lead. The error prevented the sweep. We still had a couple of chances to score, but couldn’t get it done and had to settle for the split."
Austin (3-8, 2-8 Big Nine) returns home on Thursday for a doubleheader against Owatonna at Seltz Field.
AUSTIN 9, WINONA 5
First game
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Austin 200 124 0 — 9 10 2
Winona 001 011 2 — 5 10 2
Austin: Brady Klingfus 2-4, HR, run, RBI; Mark Harber 2-4, 3 runs, RBI; Joey Swatfager 1-2, 2 runs, RBI; Adam Hemann 2-3, 2 RBIs; Preston Higbe 1-3; Steven Rizzi 1-4, run. WP: Mark Harber 7 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 10 H, 1 BB, 6 K.
WINONA 6, AUSTIN 5
Second game
Winona 003 030 0 — 6 10 1
Austin 004 100 0 — 5 8 3
Austin: Hemann 2-4, 2B; Swatfager 2-2, run, RBI; Rizzi 1-2, run; Jake Winters 1-2, 2 runs; Nate Wagner 1-2, 2 walks. LP: Brady Klingfus 7 IP, 6 R, 2 ER, 10 H, 2 HB, 1 BB, 2 K.
