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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield baseball team battled back from a three-run deficit, scoring twice in both the fifth and sixth innings to knock off Merrill 6-5 in a Wisconsin Valley Conference game Friday at Jack Hackman Field.
The win is the Tigers’ fifth straight and improves their record to 5-2 and 2-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. Merrill falls to 2-3 and 0-2 in the conference.
Merrill scored four times in the second inning and added another in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead before the Tigers got their bats going.
Marshfield plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to get within one, then pulled ahead in the sixth. Luke Wirtz led off the inning with a single, went to second on a sacrifice and scored on a double by Austin Littmann. Daulton Varsho followed with an RBI single to give the Tigers a 6-5 lead.
Littmann tossed the final three innings to earn the win in relief of Bo Howard. Littmann, Varsho and Elliot Ashbeck each had two hits for the Tigers. In the process, Ashbeck collected his 92nd and 93rd career hits to become the program’s all-time hits leader, passing Sully Luepke’s 92.
“We gave up four runs in second innings – threw the ball around a little bit and didn’t play real sharp defensively, but we kept battling back and got those two runs in the sixth to pull it out,” Marshfield coach Mark Zee said.
Marshfield ends its four-game homestand with a game against Wausau East at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hackman Field.
Tigers 6, Bluejays 5
Merrill 040 010 0 – 5 9 1
Marshfield 110 022 x – 6 9 1
WP: Austin Littmann. LP: Kevin Bolder.
SO: Bolder 5; Bo Howard 2, Littmann 0. BB: Bolder 3; Howard 3, Littmann 0.
Top hitters: MER, Ray Paul 3×4. MAR, Littmann 2×3, 2B; Daulton Varsho 2×3, 2B; Elliot Ashbeck 2×4.
Records: Merrill 2-3, 0-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Marshfield 5-2, 2-0 Wisconsin Valley Conference.