ALEXANDRIA, Minn. -- The Rochester Spartans couldn't quite hang on to complete the upset of defending champion Alexandria in Friday's VFW state baseball tournament.
The Spartans led 4-0 but ended up tied going into the seventh, and lost 5-4 to drop to today's losers bracket game against Crystal.
Zach Nesler's bases-loaded inside-the-park homer in the first inning was the biggest blow of the game for Rochester.
Alexandria strung three hits with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to score the winning run.
The Spartans managed just two hits after the first inning and four overall. They committed two errors.
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Nesler pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and three walks while striking out four and yielding four runs, two of them unearned. Jon Aaland pitched the last 1 2/3 innings.
Rochester's record is 20-20.
