Baseball: Wingers remain undefeated

NORTHFIELD - Red Wing senior pitcher Zach Garner threw five shutout innings Saturday and the Wingers put some separation between them and the rest of the Missota Conference with a 7-0 victory.

The Raiders (3-1, 2-1 Missota) had an unblemished record coming in, but managed just two hits and two walks off Garner. Garner struck out four as well as he settled in on the mound.

“The difference between Zach and his first start and today was he was around the zone,” senior catcher David Goggin said. “When he missed he missed low, he missed away. He missed in spots where they couldn’t hit the ball. That was why he was so effective.”

Red Wing (3-0, 3-0 Missota) held a 2-0 lead until the middle innings where it scored six runs to take control of the game. Junior outfielder Ryan Boldt went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a double and a run. Garner went 2-for-4 with a run and a double and Goggin finished 1-for-4 with two runs.

Senior shortstop Joel Newman got things started for the Wingers in the fifth inning with a bunt single with two outs. Senior first baseman Jack Strusz drew a walk and senior second baseman Karsten Lampman had an RBI base hit. Strusz went 1-for-3 with two runs.

“The thing that we do really well is we put a lot of pressure on the other team by getting guys on base,” Red Wing head coach Jim Bohmbach said. “Everybody can steal and run so they have to be ready for that all the time.”

The Wingers also don’t make many mistakes in the field. Red Wing played errorless ball against Northfield and didn’t give the Raiders any extra opportunities.

Senior pitcher Carsten Meyer came on in relief to close the door. Meyer allowed two hits and did not allow a run.

The win kept the Wingers in a tie for first place with Shakopee in the conference race. Last year, Red Wing won the conference by three games. The Wingers had the second-highest scoring average and gave up less than four runs a game last season.

“Our theme for the year is unfinished business,” Goggin said. “We’re glad we got to the section final four … that’s not enough for us. We see what we can do. We know that we’re a good team and we can compete with the big teams.”

Red Wing gets its first shot at Shakopee Tuesday in Red Wing.

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