The United South Central baseball defeated New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 4-2 Thursday in non-conference play.

USC lit up the scoreboard first when Colin Becher hit a two-RBI double with no outs in the top of the second inning to score Steve Voigt and Lucas George.

A run scored by Trey Allis in the top of the third gave USC a three-run advantage.

The Panthers threatened multiple times, but they were unable to get any runners to cross home plate. That is, until the bottom of the fifth, when all mayhem broke loose.

With two outs and runners on first and second, Dillon Parpart earned a base hit, but he continued running to second, even though runners had advanced and stayed at second and third. The Rebels responded with two throwing errors, and what looked to have been the final out of the inning turned out to be a two-RBI double.

“Dillon’s a good enough athlete that he got out of it, and it worked to our advantage,” NRHEG head coach Jeff Reese said.

The two runs were the only runs the Panthers scored, as USC pitcher David Stenzel came through in the clutch to strand eight runners over the span of the game.

“He got stronger as the game went on,” USC head coach Pat Frank said. “He’s a bulldog out there on the mound. He grits it out and goes after it.”

The Rebels tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh, and Stenzel struck out a NRHEG batter for the third out in the bottom of the seventh.

Through seven innings of pitching, Stenzel struck out five batters.

Parpart pitched for NRHEG. He struck out one batter and allowed two walks.