WILLMAR -- Blake Shepherd slammed two solo home runs as the Willmar Stingers defeated the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers 6-0 Saturday to complete a three-game sweep of the visiting Lunkers.
Shepherd finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs. He now has four homers in five games with Willmar and is hitting .400.
The Stingers third straight win put them at 13-10, a half-game behind second-place Brainerd.
First-place Mankato (15-8) has a two-game lead over the Stingers, who outscored the visiting Lunkers 20-6 in the three-game set.
Sean Dwyer added two RBIs and Jake Stinnett was 2-for-4 for the Stingers.
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Michael Shreves got the win, pitching three innings of one-hit baseball in relief of the starter John Haberman. Shreves now has a 2-0 record with a 0.60 ERA out of the bullpen. Haberman went 32/3 innings in his first start, striking out four and allowing three hits. Chris Gonzalez allowed one hit in 12/3 innings, while Jason West struck out the only two batters he faced to close the game. It was the first shutout Willmar has posted this season.
Willmar was off Sunday and plays 9 of its next 10 games on the road, starting today at Alexandria.
