BLUE EARTH &045; For several games in a row, Albert Lea Colonels manager Bill Trygstad was saying the same thing.

The pitching and defense were fine. The hitting needed to come around.

On Tuesday night, it did.

The Colonels banged out a season-high 18 hits while defeating the Blue Earth Pirates 7-6 in a non-league game at Blue Earth. It more than doubled the Colonels’ previous high of seven hits in one game.

Albert Lea, 1-5 in the Southern Minny League, improved to 3-5 overall while Blue Earth fell to 12-5. It was the Colonels’ second win in a row and, according to Trygstad, it came against another quality opponent.

“We don’t have any easy ones,” said Trygstad. “Blue Earth is 12-5 for a reason. They have some collegiate players, and they’ve had some success at the high school level in recent years. They’ve played good ball.”

The Colonels came out hitting, taking a 4-0 lead after two innings.

In the first, Matt Trygstad and James Gonzalez delivered back-to-back doubles for a run, and Gonzalez scored on a sacrifice fly by Phil Wacholz. In the second, Craig Smith, Matt Trygstad and Gonzalez hit consecutive singles, and Ryan Wangen added a sacrifice fly.

The Pirates tied it with four in the third, but Albert Lea regained the lead with two more in the sixth. Aric Attig, Wangen and Wacholz singled for one run, and another scored on a Zac Oquist sacrifice.

The winning run came with two outs in the seventh, when Matt Trygstad singled, took second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Attig.

Matt Trygstad was 4-for-6 for the night, Gonzalez 3-for-5, Attig 3-for-6 and Wangen 2-for-5. Adding one hit each were Wacholz, Oquist, Smith, Mick Westeng, Derek Goodnature and Jay Link.

Adam Berge pitched the first six innings for the win. He gave up four runs &045; one earned &045; on eight hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. Derek Anderson pitched 2-1/3 innings in relief, and Jeff Schulz went the final two outs for a save.

The Colonels travel to face Waseca at 7:30 tonight. They host Owatonna at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Colonels 7, Pirates 6

AL220

002

100 – 7

18

2

BE004

000

011 – 6

11

6

WP – Adam Berge