Facing elimination, the Albert Lea softball team produced timely hits to snap a five-game skid and Faribault Academies’ four-game winning streak.

Kassi Hardies went 4-for-4 at the plate with a solo home run and an RBI single that forced an extra inning, and Taylor Thompson hit a walk-off RBI double to lift the Tigers over the Cardinals 6-5 in eight innings Tuesday in the Subsection 2AA quarterfinals at Hammer Field.

“It’s really exciting,” said Thompson. “As a senior, I just want to keep it going.”

The victory marked Albert Lea’s third consecutive season with a postseason win, and it arrived on the birthday of Tigers coach Dan Harms.

“I told them, ‘If you want to give me a birthday present, win this game,’” he said. “So they did that for me.”

The Tigers entered the game reeling from injuries. Ace pitcher Haley Harms and starting catcher Veronica Silva were injured in a collision on a pop-up between home plate and the pitching circle on May 5 at Owatonna.

In the 13 games before the collision that included two games against Mankato West — a team that won the Big Nine Conference and outscored its opponents 169-54 — the Tigers outscored their opponents 101-74.

In the four regular-season games after the collision, Albert Lea was outscored 55-19.

However, the Tigers’ defense bounced back against the Cardinals.

Hanna Schilling recorded four strikeouts and gave up seven hits, five walks and three earned runs.

“She did a good job for us,” coach Harms said. “Both pitchers pitched well enough to win.”

Megan Kortan led the infield at shortstop. For the first out of the eighth inning, she made a backhanded catch while sprinting down the third-base line.

“Megan really stepped up for us,” coach Harms said. “She came a long way over for that duck snort. That was huge.”

Kortan said she was prepared to field a hit to that spot.

“Yesterday we were practicing those, so it was kind of fun to see the exact same thing in the game today,” she said.

In the bottom of the first, Albert Lea took a one-run lead on a two-out RBI single by Hardies.

The Tigers extended their advantage to three runs in the second. Hannah Schwemmler hit a lead-off double and scored on a hit by Jenna Seavey. Thompson drove Seavey home.

Faribault Academies — a cooperative between Bethlehem Academy and Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf — tied the game with three runs in the third and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hardies scored the equalizer on a solo shot that bounced out of the center fielder’s glove and over the fence.

The Cardinals answered with one run in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Hardies again delivered the tying run with a one-out RBI single to score Kortan.

After Kortan’s catch down the third-base line preserved a scoreless top half of the eighth, Thompson’s walk-off double scored Seavey for the go-ahead run.

Faribault Academies (11-6, 6-1 Gopher), the No. 5 seed, was eliminated after winning the Gopher Conference title during the regular season.

Albert Lea (9-10, 4-7 Big Nine), the No. 4 seed, advanced to the Subsection 2AA South semifinals to play No. 1-seed St. Peter (14-6, 9-3 Big South) at 5 p.m. Thursday at St. Peter. The Saints escaped the subsection quarterfinals with a 6-5 win Tuesday over No. 8-seed Blue Earth in nine innings.

After a team wins in the subsection quarterfinals, the tournament is double elimination.

“The past two years we were 2-2 (in the postseason), so this year we hope to go further,” Kortan said.