Gold wins 2 more close ones

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- For the second time in its last three games, New Ulm Legion Gold won a game in the last at-bat.

Friday night, in a 4-3 first-game win over Burlington, Wis., it was a RBI single by Jamie Hoffmann that gave New Ulm the win. Saturday afternoon, Hoffmann again played a part in the winning run.

John Enter's slicing one-out double to left scored Hoffmann from second and lifted Gold to a 6-5 win over Burlington in the first game of a doubleheader.

Craig Spelbrink was credited with the win for New Ulm Gold (3-1). He allowed eight hits and struck out four.

Dan Jordan was tagged with the loss for the Mariners in relief of starter Marcus Gonzalez.

Hoffmann and Enter paced Gold's nine-hit attack with two hits each. Enter drove in two runs.

Enter, along with Eric Austvold, belted triples for Gold, who will host Eagle Lake at 8 p.m. Monday at Johnson Park.

"They (Burlington) are a quality team," said Gold coach Dave Kunz. "We stuck together and finally got some hits (in the sixth and seventh inning). Up until that point, we did not have a lof of hits (two). We started to get some hits one after another. We used some aggressive baserunning and came out on top with that."

Burlington, which downed Gold 3-1 in the nightcap Friday, trailed 5-4 going into the top of the seventh inning. Jim Sanew was hit by a one-out pitch from Spelbrink and promptly stole second. Matt Perdue's base hit to right plated Sanew with the tying run.

But in the bottom of the inning, Gold responded with a one-out tally off Mariner reliever Dan Jordan, who relieved Gonzalez in the sixth.

Hoffmann singled to center and scampered to second on a wild pitch. Enter then went with an outside pitch from Jordan, driving it down the left-field line to score Hoffmann without a throw.

"We were hitting the ball hard (early in the game) at people and it was just a matter of staying with it," commented Kunz.

Burlington took a 2-0 lead after two innings. The Mariners scored one in the first on a lead-off walk to Dwight Jackson. A double by Corey Lepak and two walks gave Burlington its first run.

Lepak's single scored Jordan in the second for a two-run lead.

New Ulm cut the lead in half in the third when Dan Kitzberger singled and swiped second. An Andy Stolt ground out moved Kitzberger to third and he scored on Eric Austvold's triple to center.

Burlington added two runs in the top of the sixth when Jordan doubled to score Mike Schmolfeldt. Jordan stole second and scored on a throwing error by catcher Brandon Reinarts.

Gold took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the inning as Dusty Wilfahrt tripled to begin the inning. Hoffmann's one-out double easily scored Wilfahrt. The extra base parade continued for New Ulm when Enter tripled to center. Travis Thorson's bloop single scored Enter with Thorson taking second on the throw home. A Jace Marti single, a walk to Kitzberger and a fielder's choice gave Gold the temporary 5-4 lead.

In the second game, New Ulm outslugged Burlington 13-11. Hoffmann led Gold, going 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Thorson was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI for New Ulm, and teammate Austvold was 3-for-5 with two RBI.

Grossmann got the win in relief for New Ulm. Mike Grossmann went 2 2-3 innings and allowed two runs on two hits; he fanned two and walked one.

1st Game

BURLINGTON 110 002 1--5 8 1

NEW ULM GOLD 001 004 1--6 9 1

W--Spelbrink. L--Gonzalez. 2B--Burlington, Lepak, Jordan; New Ulm, Wilfahrt, Hoffmann, Enter. 3B--New Ulm, Austvold, Enter.