It was a drama filled Tuesday night for the Becker baseball team, as the Bulldogs went on the road as the #6 seed and ended up knocking off the third seed St. Francis Saints, 6-5, in 10 innings.

“We’ve had two close games with St. Francis this year already so we were expecting another tough fight,” Coach Brett Knudsen said.  “Thankfully, we were able to come out on top.”

The game was scoreless after three innings before Becker struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning, 

Austin Rimmer picked up one of his three walks in the game to open the inning, followed by an Ethan Obermoller walk, as the junior returned from a multi-week injury to provide a spark for the Bulldogs.

Rimmer then stole third and scored on a past ball, while pinch runner Chase Stupar later crossed the plate on a wild pitch.

The team traded runs in the fifth before Becker scored two more in the top of the sixth to take a 5-1 lead.

Meanwhile, lefty Gerad Hanle was cruising on the mound, as he scattered four hits through the first five innings.  

“Hanle set the tone for us on the mound,” Knudsen said.  “We unfortunately let it get away from us in the seventh, but bounced back great in extras.”

Hanle pitched into the seventh and got two outs with the bases loaded, but then hit the maximum pitch count and was relieved by Isaac Guck.  Hanle left the game having struck out eight batters in a dominant performance. 

But an error, a walk and a single later and the Saints somehow managed to plate four runs in the bottom of the seventh and it was on to extra innings.

It was a pair of scoreless stanzas before Becker managed the game winner in the top of the 10th.  Cayden Denne walked and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Guck, and Hanle followed with a walk of his own.  Another strikeout led to two outs for Becker, when catcher Riley Girard lined a 1-2 count pitch to center field to score a sliding Denne with the go ahead run.

“We’ve been waiting all season for a clutch hit from the middle of our order,”” Knudsen said. “Girard finally cashed that ticket.”

The Saints managed to put a runner on third base in the bottom of the inning, but Guck zipped a fast ball by the last hitter to get the final out.

With the Section win, Becker advanced to the second round and played at Monticello on Thursday evening.

Totino

Last Friday, Becker finished up the regular season with a hard fought 6-3 loss to #1 state ranked Totino-Grace.

Becker actually led 3-0 after scoring three in the top of the fifth, but the Eagles posted six in the bottom of the inning to take the win.

Guck and Hanle led the team with three hits apiece, while Hanle, Ethyn Cantin and Hunter Pietrowski each threw two innings for the Bulldogs on the mound.