The Albert Lea baseball team was looking to end its week on a high note when it faced Stewartville on Friday.

The Tigers got a great start from sophomore pitcher Parker Anderson and the offense scored runs in the first three innings to build a 7-0 lead before hanging on for a 9-6 win.

“It was a great effort by the boys to the win the game,” Tigers coach Sean Gaston said. “We came out aggressive offensively and really put together some quality at-bats early in the game.”

Albert Lea scored three runs in the first inning, then added two apiece in the second and third inning to open a 7-0 lead over Stewartville.

On the mound, Anderson was busy limiting a Stewartville offense that had scored 22 runs in its first five games.

“(Parker) carried that aggressive attitude to the mound,” Gaston said. “He was fantastic. He pounded the strike zone, and used his pitches effectively. He did a great job getting ahead and keeping hitters off balance.”

Anderson pitched 6 1/3 innings before running into trouble in the seventh inning.

Stewartville scored five runs in the inning.

Anderson had a strike-to-ball ratio of nearly 3:1 for his start.

In his first at-bat of the season, Dawson Luttrell smacked a double and scored a run. Garrett Grandstand also went 1-1.

The Tigers got RBIs from six different players and pounded out 17 hits.

Alex Goodmanson, Ben Witham and Jake Bordewick each went 3-4 and scored a run. Logan Stadheim went 2-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

“We made some adjustments offensively, being aggressive early in counts,” Gaston said. “As a result, we got nine runs and 17 hits, but more importantly to us, we limited our strikeouts to four.”

What made Gaston even happier was to see guys, who have yet to get ample amounts of reps in games, take advantage of what was presented to them on Friday.

“It was awesome to see some young men who have not gotten a lot of opportunities get in and perform well,” Gaston said. “We got hits from (Garrett) and (Dawson), and Garret Piechowski keeps showing us his versatility by going behind the plate and giving us some quality work.”

The win ends a long week for the Tigers, who played two straight road games and three games total. The week started with a walk-off win against No. 2 Northfield on Tuesday. That win was followed by a 6-2 loss at Mankato West and concluded with Friday’s win over Stewartville.

“I was happy to get this win,” Gaston said. “This was a busy week for our boys. There was a chance this was a trap game for us, but our boys came out fast and with energy, exactly how we want them to play.”

Albert Lea will continue to stay on the road when it plays Faribault on Tuesday.

Box score

AL   322   011   0 — 9

S     000   010   5 — 6

Albert Lea pitching: Parker Anderson (W) 6.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Alex Bledsoe 0 IP, 2 H, R, ER; Jake Bordewick (S) 2/3 IP, BB, K

Albert Lea batting: Alex Bledsoe 0-3, R, RBI, HBP; Blake Simon 2-3, R, RBI; Cody Ball 1-3, RBI, 2B; Ben Witham 3-4, R; Zach Edwards 1-3, R, RBI; Alex Goodmanson 3-4, R, RBI, 2B; Jake Bordewick 3-4, R, 2B; Logan Stadheim 2-3, 2 R, RBI; Ty Harms 1-2; Garrett Grandstand 1-1; Andy Thomas 0-2; Dawson Luttrell 1-1, R, 2B; Garrett Piechowski 0-1; Jack Buendorf 0-1; Carter Simon 0-2