MANKATO — Junior right-hander Caeden Willaert allowed one run over six innings and junior third baseman Caden Hansen ripped three hits Monday to lead Mankato East to a 7-1 Big Nine Conference baseball win over Faribault at Wolverton Field.
Willaert, making his first start of the season, gave up three hits while striking out four and walking one while Hansen, making his season debut at third base, made a trio of fine defensive plays to go along with two singles, a double and a base on balls at the plate.
“I just threw strikes and let my defense do the work,” Willaert said. “They not only hit well for me, they played some great defense as well. If you throw strikes, your defense can work and that keeps it fun for everyone.
“We were swinging more at the plate and didn’t take too many pitches. We had a lot of quality at bats and didn’t strike out at all. I am not going to throw the ball by hitters so I just throw the pitches my coaches call to get ground balls and pop flies. … This is a fun group to play with and we play well together.”
East (6-2 overall, 6-1 in Big Nine) scored a first-inning run when Owen Studtmann smacked a double to deep right field, and Hansen lined a single into left field in front of an errant pick-off attempt at first base. A hit batter, a walk and singles from Carson Hart and Hansen sparked a two-run second-inning surge.
Wilaert kept the Falcons (0-6) hitless through four frames before four hits — Nicholas Werk, Hansen, Zach Bosse and Jack Hansen — and Studtmann’s sacrifice fly expanded the margin to 5-0. Eric Sanchez broke up Willaert’s no-hit bid with a single through the hole in the fifth before Hudson Dillon’s double along with Ben Cunniff’s RBI single ended the shutout bid. Junior left-hander Peyton McCormick pitched a scoreless final frame.
“We’ve got the pitching and defense together the last few games but our bats weren’t there,” East coach Micah Degner said. “We got them going today so hopefully we’re trending in the right direction. Caeden threw his off-speed and two-seamer in the zone for strikes so he gave us just what we needed with five games this week. We know Caden has a bat so we need to find a way to keep him in the lineup. … We’re starting to take control of our at bats.”
Studtmann stroked an RBI single in the fifth to put the Cougars in front 7-0.
“Our bats have been a little sluggish so far, but we had a good day today,” Caden Hansen said. “We played really good as a team and the bats came together so you can go a long way with that. I am getting in the cage every day and keep things consistent and my swing level. Our mental errors have gone down a lot and now with the bats going, hopefully we can make a run.”
East hosts New Ulm at 4 p.m. Thursday.