By John RittenhouseThe Luverne VFW baseball team split four games without placing at the New Ulm Tournament over the weekend.The Cardinals dropped the tournament opener to Maple Grove on Friday before beating New Ulm White later in the day.Luverne lost a game to Hutchinson Saturday before beating New Ulm Black in the tournament later in the day.Luverne’s record stands at 12-4 after the tournament.Luverne 15, NU Black 5The Cardinals saved their best offensive performance of the tournament for the finale against New Ulm Black Saturday.Marc Boelman drove in four runs with four hits to lead a 15-hit attack that carried the Cards to a 10-run win in six innings.The game was tied at two when Luverne gained the lead for good by scoring one run in the top of the third inning and three in the fourth.Ben Nath reached base on a fielder’s choice and scored the go-ahead run in the third when Craig Oeding singled.Boelman doubled home one run, Tyler Reisch slapped a run-scoring single and Derek Elbers received an RBI for a groundout when the Cards expanded their lead to four runs (6-2) in the third.Black plated a run in the bottom of the fourth to trail 6-3 before Luverne iced the game with a nine-run sixth inning.Boelman’s two-run double was the key hit in the sixth. Oeding, Brian Deutsch, Jake Clark and Elbers drove in one run each with singles.Both teams scored two runs in the first inning.Boelman and Chris Fitzer singled home runs in the first for Luverne.Andrew DeBoer tossed all five innings to notch the win.Box score AB R H BIClark 1 4 1 1Elbers 4 1 2 2Boelman 5 3 4 4Reisch 3 1 1 1Fitzer 4 1 1 1Nath 3 2 1 0Oeding 4 1 2 2Deutsch 4 0 1 1Lundgren 3 2 2 0Hutchinson 11, Luverne 3The Cardinals let an early lead slip away during Saturday’s first game against Hutchinson.Luverne scored two runs in the top of the second to gain an early advantage, but Hutchinson outscored the Cards 11-1 the rest of the way to win by eight.Fitzer drew a walk and Nath singled to set the table for Luverne in the second. Fitzer scored on a single by Oeding, and Nath crossed home plate when DeBoer produced a sacrifice fly.Hutchinson scored six runs in the third inning and two in the fifth to lead 8-2 before Luverne scored its final run in the sixth.Deutsch singled and scored the team’s last run when Nath doubled.Hutchinson struck for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to cap the scoring.Nath worked the first five innings on the mound and took the loss. Boelman pitched the sixth inning.Box score AB R H BIClark 3 0 1 0Elbers 4 0 1 0Boelman 4 0 1 0Reisch 4 0 0 0Finke 1 0 0 0Fitzer 0 1 0 0Deutsch 2 1 1 0Nath 3 1 2 1Oeding 3 0 1 1Lundgren 2 0 0 0DeBoer 2 0 0 1Luverne 8, NU White 0A strong pitching performance by Brett Lundgren set the stage for an eight-run win over New Ulm White in Friday’s second game.Lundgren tossed a seven-inning shutout. He limited White to four hits.Luverne scored all eight of its runs in the first and third innings.Clark walked and Boelman reached base on an error in the bottom of the first. Fitzer delivered a two-run single to give the Cards a 2-0 lead.Luverne iced the game with a six-run third inning.DeBoer and Oeding slapped two-run singles in the frame. Reisch added an RBI single to the rally, and another run scored on an error.Box score AB R H BIClark 3 1 0 0Elbers 2 1 0 0Boelman 2 2 1 0Reisch 3 1 1 1Fitzer 2 1 1 2Nath 2 0 1 0Oeding 3 1 1 2Lundgren 1 1 0 0DeBoer 3 0 1 2MG 3, Luverne 1Maple Grove edged the Cardinals by two runs in a well-played game to open the tournament Friday.MG plated three runs to open the scoring in the bottom half of the third inning.Luverne scored the game’s final run in the fourth.Boelman was hit by a pitch, Reisch reached base on an error and Oeding walked to load the sacks in the fourth. Nath was hit by a pitch to force home Boelman.Micah Boomgaarden pitched all seven innings for Luverne, surrendering four hits.Box score AB R H BIClark 4 0 3 0Elbers 3 0 0 0Boelman 2 1 0 0Reisch 2 0 0 0Fitzer 3 0 0 0Oeding 2 0 0 0Lundgren 3 0 0 0Nath 2 0 0 1Boomgaarden 3 0 0 0
