The Rebel’s boys’ baseball team avenged a regular season loss to Mankato-Loyola and advanced to the double-elimination round of the Section 2A Tournament, with an 8-3 pounding Tuesday at Franklin Rodgers Park in Mankato.

A.J. Dreyer led all batters, going 4-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, including a line drive homerun hit over the right field wall, 340 feet from home plate.

Dreyer also started the game on the mound and allowed one earned run in four innings.

“A.J. threw a great game,” head coach Pat Frank said. “He swung the bat like man, too.”

Dustin Dylla went 2-for-4 with a double and bases-clearing triple in the seventh inning and Anthony Stenzel scored two runs while going 1-for-2 with a double.

The win puts USC (13-8) among the final four teams in the section tournament.

“This was a huge win for our town and our baseball team,” Frank said. “We had a lot of people up there watching.”

The Rebels will play Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (20-1) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Frankling Rodgers Park.

USC 8, Mankato 3

USC 201 001 4 — 8 7 1

M-L 000 030 0 — 3 8 1