By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team split a pair of games played on the road since last Friday.The Cardinals stunned Southwest Conference-leading Pipestone by hammering the Arrows by eight runs Friday in Pipestone. Fairmont returned the favor to LHS by saddling the Cardinals with an eight-run loss in Fairmont Tuesday.Luverne, 10-8 overall, hosts Worthington today before ending the regular season with a game in Adrian Monday.Fairmont 10, Luverne 2Host Fairmont scored two or more runs in four innings during an eight-run victory over the Cardinals Tuesday.Luverne scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a brief lead, but Fairmont outscored the Cards 10-1 the rest of the way to win handily.The Cards loaded the sacks in the first with singles by Adam Reisch, Zach Wysong and Mark Remme. Jared Pick drew a bases-loaded walk to force home the game’s first run.Fairmont responded by scoring two runs in the first and second innings before adding four runs in the fourth to open an 8-1 cushion.Luverne scored a single run in the top of the fifth to trail by six (8-2) but the hosts scored twice in the sixth to prevail by eight.Brad Herman singled and scored on a single by Wysong to account for Luverne’s fifth-inning run.Herman pitched the first two and two-thirds innings of the game and took the loss. J.T. Bruynes pitched one inning and Rob Fodness two and one-third innings of relief.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 3 0 0 0Richters 1 0 0 0Reisch 4 1 3 0Wysong 4 0 3 1Kurtz 4 0 0 0Remme 3 0 1 0Tofteland 1 0 0 0Pick 2 0 0 1Fodness 3 0 2 0Boen 3 0 0 0Herman 3 1 1 0Luverne 13, Pipestone 5The Cardinals saddled the Arrows with their first Southwest Conference loss of the season when the teams squared off in Pipestone Friday.Luverne scored eight runs in the top half of the first inning and never lost control of the game the rest of the way.Pipestone, which beat Luverne 7-3 in Luverne April 27, lost its first league game after winning eight straight in conference play.Luverne’s eight-run first inning set the tone for the game.Remme and Fodness supplied key blows during the rally by delivering two-run doubles. Jared Pick and Taylor Graphenteen added RBI singles to the rally, and Adam Kurtz and Tim Boen drew bases-loaded walks.Pipestone plated two runs in the bottom of the second, but Boen singled and scored on a fielder’s choice by Wysong in the top of the third to make it a 9-2 game.The Arrows scored once in the bottom of the third to trail 9-3, but doubles from Pick and Boen in the top of the fourth gave LHS a 10-3 cushion.Pipestone scored its final two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Luverne scored one run in the sixth inning before adding two more in the seventh.Herman slapped an RBI single in the sixth. Wysong doubled and scored when Kurtz belted a two-run homer to left field in the seventh.Pick pitched all seven innings to record the victory. Pick didn’t walk a batter during a 10-hit, 10-strikeout performance.Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 4 1 1 1Reisch 5 1 1 0Wysong 5 2 2 1Kurtz 4 2 1 3Remme 4 1 2 2Pick 5 2 2 1Fodness 4 2 2 2Boen 4 2 2 2Herman 3 0 1 1
