The Albert Lea Colonels got nine strong innings from starter Michael Greibrok Wednesday night and moved to .500 on the season with a 7-3 win over Waseca at Hayek Field.

The Colonels (7-7) earned a season sweep of the Braves with a four-run third inning where nine hitters went to the plate.

Anthony Lowman drew a walk and Jake Villarreal singled to start the threat. Devin Kaasa reached on a bunt single to load the bases for Brandon Klukow who delivered a two-run single. Ryan Wangen added an RBI single and Arik Matson hit a sacfrice fly to score Klukow.

“That broke it open and made it a little easier for Mike to pitch,” Albert Lea manager Bill Trygstad said. “He got out of some jams and got some strikeouts when he needed them.”

Waseca loaded the bases in the fourth inning, but Greibrok got catcher Scott Kaminski to fly out to center to end the threat.

The Braves collected 11 hits off of Greibrok, but they didn’t do any damage until the ninth inning when the Colonels had the game wrapped up.

Albert Lea led 7-0 going into the ninth, but No. 9 hitter Bryan Murphy reached on an error and leadoff hitter Chase Brown reached base for the fifth time in the game with a single. Steve Hovland drove in both runners with a double and later came around to score on a single, but that was all the damage Waseca could do.

“They hit some balls well,” Greibrok said. “They were timing me towards the end of the game a little better, but eight shutout innings, I’m happy.”

It would have been the second time Albert Lea shutout the Braves.

Jake Villarreal and Devin Kaasa kept giving the Colonels baserunners as Villarreal, the No. 9 hitter, reached base three times and scored two runs. Kaasa, the No. 1 hitter, reached twice on two singles, scored twice and drove in a run in the sixth.

“Hopefully we’ll keep playing some good ball going in,” Greibrok said. “Our offense has been playing well, getting some big hits and being aggressive at the plate.”

Albert Lea had a tough time keeping Brown off the basepaths, but got a big boost when it threw him out when he tried to steal third in the first inning with no outs.

“Throwing him out at third in the first inning was big,” Trygstad said. “They might have scored that inning if he wouldn’t have done that.”

The Colonels played strong defense and Greibrok walked one to limit opportunities for the Braves.

“When you don’t walk guys and you don’t make errors the game becomes a lot easier,” Trygstad said.

Albert Lea 7, Waseca 3

Waseca – 000 000 003 – 3 11 3

Albert Lea – 004 012 00x – 7 9 1

WP – Michael Greibrok 9 IP, 11 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

LP – Caleb Srp 5 1/3 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K