ALBERT LEA &045;&160;Nick Bunz took a no-hitter into the top of the fifth inning in his first start for Albert Lea before settling for a two-hit 4-1 victory over Waseca.

&8220;He was strong for his first time out and he had good command of his pitches,&8221; said Tiger head coach Joe Sczublewski.&8221;He just needs to work on getting ahead of hitters more.&8221;

The Tigers would get one run in the first when Nate Goodnature walked, stole second and came around to score on a ground out.

Albert Lea would tack on three more runs in the third as Arik Matson started off the inning with a single followed by a Matt Schumann walk before Bunz drove in the first run.

Ben Kelly would plate the final two runs with a ball aided by the wind.

&8220;The wind was a huge factor in the game,&8221; said Sczublewski, &8220;it hurt us on several balls, but it did help us in this case.&8221;

The Tigers had five hits &045;&160;all by different players &045;&160;in the game but it was more than enough for Bunz.

He finished the night going the distance, striking out five and walking seven.

His effectiveness also kept his defense in the game as it didn’t commit an error.

&8220;The defense was night and day different from our fist game which was good to see,&8221; said Sczublewski.

&8220;Arik Matson at third and Nate Goodnature at second in particular came up with several big plays in the game.&8221;

Waseca, which scored its lone run in the sixth inning, would put a pair of players on base in the seventh inning but came away empty.

The victory improved the Tigers to 2-0 on the season as they take to the road to play Mankato West today in Big Nine action.

&8220;We are happy with the good start and it is nice to be playing well, but we also have things that we need to work on to continue to improve,&8221; said Sczublewski.