By Tyler Julson

tyler.julson@albertleatribune.com

A sixth inning rally for the Lakers baseball team led them to a 5-3 victory over the Gold Saturday night.

Starting the game on the mound and earning the win for the Lakers was Blake Bagenstos. He pitched 8 2/3 innings, striking out three batters and giving up eight hits.

The Gold got out to a hot start in the matchup. Sioux Falls scored two runs in the first inning thanks to an RBI single from Derek Dahlke and a sacrifice bunt from outfielder Cole Jensen.

Down 0-2, the Lakers wouldn’t score their first runs until the bottom of the sixth inning. Evan Kayser got the inning started off with a leadoff base hit, followed by another from Jack Hemsath. With two men on base, when Hunter Waning stepped up to the plate and hit a single into left field to score two runs.

Later in the same inning, David Earhart drove another ball into left field to score two more runs and put the Lakers on top, 4-2.

The Gold would make things a little more interesting in the eighth inning, narrowing the lead to just one with a solo home run from catcher Trent Herman.

However, Albert Lea would put the lead back at two in the next half inning thanks to an RBI single from Derek Johnson.

With a 5-3 lead heading into the final inning of play, the Lakers were in a good position to wrap up the win. When Bagenstos walked two batters with two outs, relief pitcher Brian Pirc, was brought in to record the final out.

Aside from a hot sixth inning, the Lakers also played stellar defensively. The team turned two double plays and recorded zero errors.

Albert Lea will be back in action on Monday afternoon when it takes on Storm Lake. The game will start at 2 p.m. instead of the originally scheduled 7 p.m. start time.