Doing the little things right added up to a pair of victories Tuesday for the Albert Lea baseball team against previously-undefeated Mankato West at Hayek Field.

The Tigers took the extra base, broke up double plays, laid down bunts and got excellent pitching from starters Colby Strilaeff and Jordan Cooper in a sweep of the conference-leading Scarlets.

Strilaeff picked up his first career shutout in a 1-0 win, throwing a complete game four-hitter. He struck out four and walked no one.

Albert Lea scored the only run of the game in the third inning when Carter Kortan scored on a wild pitch.

The two wins keep the Tigers (9-3, 8-3 Big Nine) third in the conference behind West and John Marshall.

“With these two wins we’re back in the thick of things in the Big Nine Conference,” Strilaeff said. “It gives us a lot of confidence to know that we can compete with the big dogs.”

Cooper followed Strilaeff with an equally impressive performance in an 8-1 win. Cooper threw seven innings, allowed one unearned run on three hits and walked just one.

“We knew coming in that we could beat them,” Cooper said. “We were just hoping we’d play our A game so we could take both from them.”

Cooper said working with a lead was important for him on the mound and the team got things going in the second inning. Strileaff scored on an RBI double from J.T. Bellrichard for a 1-0 lead.

West (7-2, 7-2 Big Nine) tied the game in the top of the fourth, but Albert Lea put together a four-run fourth to take a 5-1 lead.

Bellrichard and Connor Kortan came through with clutch hits in the frame as Bellrichard belted his second double of the game to score one run and Kortan drove in two with a single.

“It felt good to be up there and hit the ball,” said Bellrichard, who has split time between the varsity and junior varsity teams.

The big play of the inning came when Strilaeff slide hard into second base to break up a double play and keep the inning alive.

In the sixth inning Connor Kortan broke up a double play when Mankato West’s second baseman dropped the ball which allowed Josh Eisenbraun to reach safely. The next batter Mondeel laid down a bunt to reach and load the bases. Second baseman Luke Grossman hit a sacrifice fly and Logan Kortan had an RBI single to make the game 8-1 to give the Tigers a sweep.

The bottom of the order was big for Albert Lea in the second game, going 4-for-8 with four RBIs and four runs scored.

“Some of these guys in the bottom of the order have been hitting the ball,” Tigers head coach Joe Sczublewski said. “Different games, different guys. Everybody’s taking their turn, that’s the thing.”

Albert Lea has seven conference games remaining, including Mayo Thursday and John Marshall Saturday, each in Rochester.

Albert Lea 1, Mankato West 0, Game 1

Mankato West 000 000 0 —  0 4 0

Albert Lea 001 000 x — 1 4 2

WP — Colby Strilaeff 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Albert Lea 8, Mankato West 1, Game 2

Mankato West 000 100 0 — 1 3 3

Albert Lea 010 403 x — 8 10 3

WP — Jordan Cooper 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

LP — Tyler Swanson 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K