The Marshall Mudcats were unable to complete a comeback after allowing seven runs in the bottom of the second to Alexandria in a 10-8 loss Saturday in Litchfield.
The loss ended the season for the Mudcats and propelled Alexandria into the Legion state tournament.
Eric Murphy's home run highlighted the seven run second for Alexandria, who struck for six runs off of Marshall starter Riley Carpenter and one run off of reliever Michael Danahar in the inning.
Carpenter went 1 1/3 innings for the Mudcats, allowing seven runs (five earned) and striking out one. Danahar also had one strikeout, but allowed just three runs over 4 2/3 innings. Leo Zerr relieved Danahar after the latter allowed his third run of the game in the seventh inning. Zerr allowed no hits and no runs in his two innings of work.
The Mudcats attempted comeback began in the third inning. Trailing 8-0, Marshall scored once in the third to get on the board and followed an Alexandria run in the fourth with three runs in the fifth to make the score 9-4.
Alexandria starter Nick Knoblauch was relieved by Beau Backhaug in the sixth inning. Backhaug held Marshall scoreless for two innings before the Mudcats restarted their rally. Marshall scored a run in the eighth and three runs in the top of the ninth, but could get no closer to the Alexandria lead.
The Mudcats totaled 12 hits against the two Alexandria pitchers. Danahar had one-third of the teams hits and finished 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Matt Campion went 3-for-5 with a double and Colton Peterson went 2-for-5. Mason Schnaible finished off a strong tournament at the plate, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
Schnaible, Carpenter, and Ben Sanders were also selected as members of the All-District 7 team following Saturday's game.
Marshall001 030 013-8 12 1
Alexandria170 100 10X-10 12 2
M-Riley Carpenter, Michael Danahar (2), Leo Zerr (7); A-Nick Knoblauch, Beau Backhaug (6). WP-Knoblauch. LP-Carpenter. HR: A-Eric Murphy. 2B: M-Matt Campion, A-Jeff Swedberg.