Gallery: Tigers fall to Winhawks on Senior Night
Published 8:29 pm Monday, May 20, 2013
The Albert Lea baseball team lost both games of a doubleheader Monday to Winona on Senior Night.
“It’s been a fun ride,” Albert Lea senior Dylan See-Rockers said. “Hopefully we can get hot at sections and then ride it through from there.”
The Tigers would like to start another winning streak like the one they had through the eighth game of the season. At that point, Albert Lea sat on top of the Big Nine Conference standings with a record of 6-2, 6-1.
Seven seniors, all of whom contribute, are listed Albert Lea’s roster.
Game one of the Senior Night doubleheader was a contest that previously had gone into the eighth inning with the score tied at 4.
Winona edged Albert Lea 5-4 by scoring a run in the bottom of the 10th. A line-drive over the first-base bag with a runner on third was the winning hit. See-Rockers finished the game on the mound for the Tigers.
In game two, Albert Lea lost 3-0.
Makael Lunning took the mound for all seven innings. He earned a game-high four strikeouts and allowed two earned runs.
“Makael did a good job out there,” Albert Lea head coach Joe Sczublewski said. “He hasn’t thrown a lot of innings, but he showed some senior leadership on the mound.”
After holding the Winhawks scoreless in the top of the first inning, the Tigers had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the first but were unable to convert.
The Tigers had another scoring opportunity in the bottom of the third inning with Ryan McLaughlin on third base with one out.
McLaughlin took first base with a walk, and a single by Fleek advanced him to third. Fleek was picked off at first for the second out, and a fly-out ended the inning.
In the fifth inning, the Winhawks extended their lead to three runs.
With no outs, runners stood on first and second.
The next Winona batter hit a dart right back into Lunning’s face on the mound, and his reflexes were quick enough to make the snag for the first out.
Lunning held the Winhawks to two runs in the inning, as the Albert Lea defense stranded runners on second and third.
Wyatt Paulsen made a catch in right field for the third out.
Neither team could muster any offensive firepower in the seventh.
The Tigers fall to 7-10, 7-9 on the season.
Next, Albert Lea hosts Austin at 4 p.m. today. Action resumes in the second inning.