Clutch Sauk Rapids-Rice Hitting Hands Laker Baseball First Section Loss

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – Jordan Tucker hit a two-run home run, but the Lakers couldn’t overcome clutch two-out hitting by the Sauk Rapids-Rice Storm in a 9-4 loss at Detroit Lakes High School on Monday.

Tucker also reached and scored on an error. Bradley Sweirs was 3-for-4 with two doubles and scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first.

The Storm scored three runs with two outs in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead. After Tucker’s homer run in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 3-3, the Storm scored three more two-out runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-3 lead.

Tucker reached on an error in the bottom of the fifth, and Jacob Thomas knocked him in to cut the deficit to 6-4. Storm centerfielder Andrew Harren responded by hitting a three-run home run off of Brock Okeson in the top of the seventh to make it a 9-4 game. The Lakers had runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the inning, but Grady Kirchner got picked off first to end the threat.

Laker pitcher Noah Rieber gave up six runs on seven hits, struck out two, and walked one over five innings. Brock Okeson relieved him in the sixth and gave up three runs on three hits.

The loss drops the Lakers to 10-3 and 1-1 in Section 8AAA. The Lakers have four games left this season: two games at Thief River Falls on Thursday, a home game against ROCORI on Friday, and home against Alexandria a week from Thursday.