WILLMAR -- Ridgewater College scraped out two wins over Rochester to take the lead in the Minnesota Community College Conference South Division race Wednesday.
The Warriors (7-1, 21-7) pulled off a pair of one-run wins, both won in the last innings, to take a two-game lead over the Yellowjackets (5-3, 10-15).
Steve Wetterling hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning to score Steve Boldt and give Ridgewater a 9-8 victory in the first game.
Travis Fluck collected four RBI, including a three-run home run and the game-winning RBI single in the seventh to lift the Warriors to a 7-6 triumph in the second game.
Pitching for both teams struggled, with 25 hits in the first game and 16 in the second.
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"It was really windy out and there were a lot of misplayed balls in the outfield in the first game," said Ridgewater coach Dwight Kotila.
Fluck went 4-for-7 and Zach Etter went 4-for-8 to lead the Warriors at the plate.
With the score tied 8-8 in the eighth inning of the first game, Boldt and Zac McCann both took walks, which set up Wetterling's double.
Etter picked up the win in relief of Ethan Vogt.
The Warriors scored four runs in the second, including three on a Boldt's single, which was misplayed by the Rochester outfielder, allowing two unearned runs to score.
In the second game, the Warriors trailed 6-5 in the seventh, when Adam Schieck and Fluck hit back-to-back RBI singles to win. Fluck homered in the four-run third inning.
Adam Nilson pitched a perfect seventh for the win in relief of Ryan Krause.
Ridgewater 9, Rochester 8
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Rochester 002 120 20 - 8 13 2
Ridgewater 040 211 01 - 9 12 2
HITTING - Rochester: Tom Corcoran 1-for-3, 2-run HR, 2 rbi; Cody Jones 2-for-5, 2-run HR, 2 rbi .... Ridgewater: Zach Etter 2-for-4, rbi; Steve Boldt 2-for-4, 2b, 3 rbi; Zac McCann 1-for-3; Steve Wetterling 2-for-5, 2b, 2 rbi; Jacolby Anderson 2-for-4, 2b; Travis Fluck 2-for-3; Matt Sagedahl 1-for-4, 2 rbi
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Rochester: Matt Gangelhoff 7-11-8-5-2-1; Aaron Stein (L) 0-1-1-1-2-0 .... Ridgewater: Ethan Vogt 6Xc-10-8-6-2-7; Zach Etter (W) 1Zc-3-0-0-3-1
Ridgewater 7, Rochester 6
Roch. (5-3, 10-15) 130 101 0 - 6 10 2
Ridge. (7-1, 21-7) 004 010 2 - 7 6 3
HITTING - Rochester: Cody Jones 3-for-4, 2 rbi; Eric Gruhlke 1-for-3, solo HR, 2 rbi; Mike White 2-for-4, rbi .... Ridgewater: Zach Etter 2-for-4, 2b; Steve Boldt 1-for-4, rbi; Adam Schieck 1-for-1, rbi; Travis Fluck 2-for-4, 3-run HR, 4 rbi
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PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - Rochester: Eric Gruhlke 6-4-7-6-4-5; Panduce (L) 0-2-2-1-0-0 .... Ridgewater: Ryan Krause 6-10-6-3-3-3; Adam Nilson (W) 1-0-0-0-0-0
NEXT -- Ridgewater: Saturday at Riverland (2), 1 p.m.
