BLUE EARTH &045; Defense was the difference as the Albert Lea Colonels lost 4-0 at Blue Earth in a non-league baseball game Tuesday night.

The Colonels committed five errors &045; matching their hit total &045; while their season record dipped to 4-14. Blue Earth, a state tournament qualifier last year, improved to 22-3.

&uot;Blue Earth has a real nice team,&uot; said Albert Lea manager Bill Trygstad. &uot;They beat us earlier in the year when we played a bad game. This time they played real well defensively. They have some good hitters. And their pitching was a little better than I thought it would be.&uot;

Blue Earth bunched together three hits and took advantage of a pair of Colonels errors to score twice in the bottom of the third inning off Albert Lea starter Isaac Walton. He pitched through the seventh, giving up two earned runs on six hits, with one walk and six strikeouts. Brad Carlson pitched the eighth, allowing one run on one hit. He struck out one, walked one and hit two batters.

The Colonels stranded nine baserunners, one more than Blue Earth. They had runners on first and third with two outs in the fourth and, in the sixth, loaded the bases with two outs. They left men on first and second in the ninth.

Jeff Schulz was 2-for-3 and Justin 2-for-4 to lead Albert Lea offensively. Matt Trygstad had a pinch-hit single in the ninth.

&uot;The guys played hard again,&uot; said Bill Trygstad. &uot;I’m just frustrated for them. They’re playing so hard but not getting the wins to show for it. We just need a key hit or a key play to get us over the hump.&uot;

The Colonels’ game at Austin tonight was canceled and may not be rescheduled. The Colonels play at New Richland Thursday night and host Faribault Sunday in their final home game of the season.

Blue Earth 4, Colonels 0

Albert Lea

000 000 000 – 0

5

5

Blue Earth

002 000 11x – 4

7

0

LP – Isaac Walton