Marquette ousts Midland with big seventh inning

     Bellevue Marquette scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie and defeat the Midland Eagles 9-4 in a Class 1A, District 8 baseball quarterfinal game July 10 at Calamus-Wheatland.

     The loss eliminated Midland from postseason play, as Marquette advanced to the district semifinals.

     It was a back-and-forth game until the decisive seventh inning. Marquette held a 3-0 lead midway through the third inning, but Midland answered  in the bottom of the third. Britan Martens hit a one-out single, and after a second out, Austin Smith delivered a two-run homer to left-center field to cut the Mohawks’ margin to 3-2.

     “We really battled to keep this game close early,” Midland coach Ryan Steines said. “We were able to really get the momentum on our side after Austin hit his home run. He crushed that ball.”

     The Eagles then took the lead in the fifth inning. Trevor Gudenkauf led off with a single, then scored on Fisher Bisinger’s one-out double. Bisinger went to third on a flyout by Austin Smith, and scored on a passed ball to give Midland a 4-3 lead.

     Marquette tied the score 4-4 in the top of the sixth. In the seventh, the Mohawks had two-run singles from Blayne Banowetz and Ethan Pfiffner to cap a five-run inning. Martens hit a double for Midland in the bottom of the seventh, but the Eagles were unable to score.

     “We had some chances in the fifth and sixth to score a few more runs, but couldn’t get the big hit to extend our lead,” Steines said. “The wheels fell off in the top of the seventh. Fisher had a few close pitches that didn’t go our way. Then Marquette was able to come through with two big hits to extend their lead.”

     Midland had eight hits; both Austin Smith and Martens went 2-for-4. Bisinger was the starting pitcher, working six full innings but taking the loss. Austin Smith finished the game.

     The Eagles finished with a record of 16-13, including a 14-9 record in the Tri-Rivers Conference, good for fifth place.