Seventh-inning rally gives baseball team even record

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team opened the season by splitting a pair of games on the road.The Cardinals lost a four-run game against Buffalo to open the campaign at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis Saturday. Luverne bounced back to post a two-run win in Tracy Tuesday.Luverne hosts Jackson for a Southwest Conference doubleheader today and Red Rock Central-Westbrook-Walnut Grove for a single game Tuesday.Luverne 7, T-M-B 5A five-run rally in the top of the seventh inning gave the Cardinals their first win of the season in Tracy Tuesday.Trailing 5-1 after the Panthers scored one run in the bottom of the fourth inning before three more in the fifth, Luverne appeared to be in trouble.The Cards, however, plated a run in the top of the sixth (Joey Pick scored after Zach Wysong drew a bases-loaded walk) to trail 5-2 before putting the contest away with a five-run rally in the seventh.Mark Remme recorded an infield single before Scott Boelman and Pick were hit by pitches to load the sacks in the seventh.Aaron Schmidt singled home the first run of the inning before Jake Studer chased home two runs with a single to knot the score at five. Adam Kurtz then singled home the go-ahead run before Wysong added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.T-M-B opened the scoring by scoring a run in the bottom of the first. Luverne tied the game in the second when Wysong reached base on an error and scored when Devin Goembel bounced into a double play later in the inning.Kurtz, who pitched five-run ball through five innings before being lifted for Rob Fodness in the sixth inning, returned to the mound in the seventh to pick up a save. Fodness, who pitched the sixth inning and registered the first out of the seventh, picked up the win. Kurtz replaced Fodness with two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh and got the final two outs.Box score AB R H BIJo.Pick 3 2 0 0Schmidt 4 1 3 1Studer 4 1 1 2Kurtz 4 0 1 1Wysong 2 1 0 2Boen 4 0 1 0Johnson 2 0 1 0Fodness 1 0 0 0Goembel 1 0 0 0Remme 1 1 1 1Petersen 2 0 0 0Boelman 0 1 0 0Buffalo 8, Luverne 4The Cardinals opened the 2003 season by taking on Buffalo in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis Saturday.Luverne erased an early 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 edge late in the game, but Buffalo outscored the Cards 6-1 the rest of the way to win by four runs.Buffalo opened the scoring by plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning before the Cards moved in front by scoring one run in the third and two in the top of the fifth.Joey Pick walked and scored Luverne’s first counter when Jake Studer slapped an RBI single.Aaron Schmidt and Studer chased home runs with singles when the Cards took a 3-2 lead in the fifth.Luverne’s lead didn’t last long as Buffalo put together a six-run rally in the bottom of the fifth to open an 8-3 advantage.Studer reached base on an error before scoring the final run of the game when Tim Boen singled in the top of the seventh.Studer and Zach Wysong slapped two hits each to lead LHS.Jared Pick started the game on the mound, yielding two runs in three innings. Schmidt took over in the fourth and was saddled with the loss after surrendering five runs in 1 1/3 innings. Studer allowed one run in one inning, and Rob Fodness recorded two outs without yielding a counter.Box score AB R H BIJo.Pick 3 2 0 0Schmidt 2 0 1 1Petersen 1 0 0 0Studer 3 1 2 2Kurtz 3 0 0 0Ja.Pick 1 0 1 0Remme 2 0 0 0Fodness 1 0 0 0Boen 4 0 1 1Reisch 2 0 0 0Johnson 2 0 0 0Uilk 2 1 0 0Wysong 3 0 2 0