By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team split a Southwest Conference double-header against defending state champion Jackson County Central in Luverne Thursday.The Huskies nipped the Cardinals 5-4 in Game 1. Luverne rolled to an 8-1 win in the finale.Luverne’s league record stands at 5-2 after the split.JCC 5, Luverne 4A late rally by the hosts came up one run short during the first game of Thursday’s twin bill.Trailing 5-2 after four and one-half innings of play, Luverne climbed back into the game when Jared Pick doubled home a run in the bottom of the fifth and Scott Boelman slapped an RBI single in the seventh inning to make it a one-run (5-4) difference. The Cards had runners on first and second base when JCC recorded the final out in the seventh inning to seal the win.JCC opened the scoring in the top of the third before Luverne countered with a two-run double by Zach Wysong in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 edge.The Huskies regained the lead at 5-2 with a three-run homer in the fourth inning and a single run in the fifth.Pick yielded four runs in six innings as the starting pitcher. He walked five batters, fanned five and yielded four hits while taking the loss. Brett Lundgren tossed a scoreless seventh inning.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 1 1 1Wysong 2 1 1 2Boelman 4 0 1 1Herman 3 0 1 0Graphenteen 4 0 0 0Nath 3 0 1 0Tofteland 3 0 0 0Bruynes 3 0 0 0Oeding 0 2 0 0Lundgren 1 0 0 0Luverne 8, JCC 1LHS pitchers J.T. Bruynes and Wysong limited the Huskies to a pair of hits and one run to highlight Luverne’s seven-run win in the finale.Bruynes tossed five innings of shutout ball to get the win. He walked four batters, hit three Huskies and surrendered one hit. Wysong allowed one run and one hit in two innings of relief.Luverne took control of the game by scoring five runs in the top of the third. Wysong doubled home two runs, Brad Herman delivered an RBI double and Boelman and Graphenteen slapped RBI singles during the rally.The Cards increased their lead to 8-0 by scoring one run in the fourth inning and two in the fifth before JCC capped the scoring with a run in the sixth.Graphenteen singled home Luverne’s fourth-inning run. Pick produced an RBI single and Boelman recorded a sacrifice fly in the fifth.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 1 1 1Johnson 1 0 0 0Wysong 3 2 2 2Boelman 3 1 1 2Herman 3 1 1 1Graphenteen 4 0 2 2Nath 3 0 0 0Tofteland 3 0 0 0Deutsch 1 0 0 0Petersen 1 2 1 0Boler 1 0 0 0Bruynes 4 1 1 -0
