The Becker Bulldog baseball team went 1-2 in action over the past week, as their bats continue to lag behind excellent pitching.

“Quality pitching and defense are going to have to be a staple for us,” Coach Brett Knudsen said in recapping the week.  “As the season goes on, we’ll hope that the bats start to get a little hotter.”

At North Branch

Last Thursday, Becker traveled to North Branch and came from four runs down to pick up a 9-8 victory.

Gerad Hanle and Hunter Pietrowski each had a pair of hits to lead the offense, as seven different batters picked up RBI’s.

Ethyn Cantin drew the start on the bump and worked 2.2 innings, striking out five Viking batters before being relieved by Alex Schermer.  The right-hander went the final 4.1 innings to pick up the win, as he scattered five hits and gave up just one earned run.

Vs. Monticello

Friday, Becker fell to Monticello, 4-1 in a game that was winnable.

Hanle picked up three of Becker’s four hits, while Cayden Denne also notched a single.

Three Becker errors doomed the defense, as Monticello capitalized with a pair of unearned runs.

Pietrowski was solid on the mound in his first varsity start, going three innings and scattering four hits.  Austin Rimmer came on in relief and went the final three, giving up just one hit.

At Princeton

Monday, Becker traveled to Princeton and were outplayed by the Tigers on a wet and cold day, falling 7-1.

Becker’s bats were silent, as Tiger left-hander Nolan Peters carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Bulldog leadoff hitter Isaac Guck picked up Becker’s only hit of the game.

Hanle was the tough-luck loser on the mound, as he worked four innings and struck out seven batters but was victimized by a couple of Becker errors.

Guck and Jack Fischer worked an inning each of relief as Becker fell to 1-3 on the season.

The Bulldogs hosted Delano on Wednesday and were scheduled to host Zimmerman on Thursday.