Photo by Samantha Davis. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Noah Knakmuhs rounds third base while being directed by head coach James Fultz (right) to run towards home against Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the second inning Thursday afternoon in Tracy. The Panthers defeated the Knights 5-4 behind a five-run fourth inning.

TRACY — Behind a five-run fourth inning and honing in on defense, the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton baseball team staved off Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in a 5-4 win Thursday afternoon, marking its third straight victory. The game was originally slated for a 4:30 p.m. first pitch, but moved up to 2 p.m. due to the possibility of evening rain.

“We played MCC [Murray County Central] last week and we got kind of thrown around a little bit [in a 14-2 loss]. The guys took that to heart, and decided we had to stop this from happening,” TMB head coach James Fultz said. “The guys are pretty confident right now. The bats have been great, that’s the best thing. RTR is a good team… We’ve seen them a lot over the past three or four years. Good game, and I’m happy that we won it.”

The game was competitive in its entirety, and didn’t see a run until the top of the fourth inning. With the Panthers taking a 5-1 lead, the Knights quickly brought the score within a run after a three-run fifth inning. But, TMB finished the game off with a Trevor Smith strikeout and two field outs to save the win.

“I liked where we were going. It’s just like in this game, if you have too many errors, it costs you, and Tracy capitalized,” RTR head coach Danny Moffitt said. “They [TMB] had the hits when they needed in that one big inning … Otherwise, we were pretty strong.”

RTR had six hits on the night, to TMB’s 12. Brayden Chandler and Tyler Wichmann led with two hits, while Wichmann had a team-high two RBIs.

TMB’s Taylor Squires led with three hits and a pair of RBIs, while Noah Knakmuhs and Jackson Kruse each had two hits.

Pitching-wise, Munson was on the mound the first three innings and finished with four walks and two strikeouts, while allowing two hits and one earned run. Smith finished the final four innings with one walk and six strikeouts, along with four hits and three earned runs.

Wichmann pitched the first four innings for the Knights, finishing with three strikeouts, nine hits and five earned runs. Kolby Louwagie finished the last two innings with two walks, one strikeout and two hits.

RTR has had a strong start to the season, going 5-1 in its first six games prior to facing the Panthers, including a five-game win streak before suffering its first loss 6-3 to Adrian/Ellsworth on Tuesday.

TMB also has seen early successes, entering Thursday with an even 3-3 start to the season, coming off two straight wins, 8-5 against Adrian/Ellsworth and 8-6 Lac qui Parle Valley.

Although both teams remained scoreless, TMB and RTR continued to pressure one another defensively early on. RTR catcher Seth Cowell had a pair of tag outs at the home plate, one in the second inning and another in the fourth, while Squires also tagged a runner out at home during a TMB triple play in the third inning.

The Panthers’ triple play came by with RTR runners on first and third base, and Munson, pitching at the time, fielded a short ground ball and turned to throw it to second base for the forced out, which next went to first base and then home to Squires to complete the play.

RTR got on the board first with a run in the top of the fourth inning, with Drew Chandler running home from second off a Wichmann single to center field.

Smith relieved Munson on the mound for the remainder of the game in the fourth after walking the first two batters.

“Munson started this time, and he’s a golfer, too. He was very, very good in those first few innings, and then his legs, I think, got to him. It’ll come, we’re still in early April,” Fultz said. “Trevor, he came in, and that’s probably the best Trevor’s looked … He settled in, and he looked pretty darn good.”

Bats came alive for TMB in the bottom of the fourth to eclipse its four-run lead.

The Panthers got bases loaded up with a Smith grounder to left field, a Knakmuhs bunt and still made it to base, and an infield single to third base from Griffin Zick.

“I’m missing a shortstop [Gabe Elton], so I’m trying to get our team adjusted,” Moffitt said. “I’m trying to figure some things out, and I think I’m getting it figured out. So, I was messing around with different positions.”

Kruse was hit by a pitch, automatically bringing in Smith to tie the game up 1-1.

A David Schuh single line drive to center field scored Knakmuhs, to which he and Kruse both got to home plate with a Squires hard line drive single to right field.

Brody Hauger stepped in to courtesy run for Squires, who finished off the Panthers’ rally with a run home off a Connor Lanoue grounder to third base before RTR could finish the final out.

“The at-bats are just better,” Fultz said. “Hopefully that keeps going, and hopefully everybody stays hot, and we keep this thing rolling.”

The Knights didn’t count themselves out, and returned the favor by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth to bring themselves back within a run, down 5-4.

Chandler got the action started with a double fly ball out to center field, and stole third off a dropped ball by Squires behind the plate.

Sean Griesse walked, while Elijah Determan also hit a double to center field, scoring Brayden.

With Griesse on third base and Determan on second, Drew hit an infield sacrifice single to bring in Griesse.

For the final run, Wichmann singled to left field as Determan ran to home plate. Smith finished the inning up with a strikeout to halt the Knights from potentially tying up the game.

RTR’s Louwagie stepped in to relieve Wichmann in the circle in the bottom of the fifth. The Knights’ defense stopped TMB from bringing in more runs, despite continuing to get runners on base in its final two at-bats.

However, the Panthers’ defense did just the same, ending the night without allowing any runners on base in RTR’s final two at-bats, securing the quick three outs.

“When the defense is clean for us, we give ourselves a chance,” Fultz said. “Today was just clean enough, and we’ll take it.”

RTR (5-2) will next look to get back in the win column when it hosts both Minneota and Heron Lake-Okabena/Fula on Monday. The Knights and Vikings will start at 1 p.m., and the second game will follow.

“I feel very confident, I like where we are going. Our bats got really hot, and then we kind of got into a funk,” Moffitt said. “But, I know we’ll get our bats going … I’m just making some adjustments for our defense, and hopefully we can get that figured out by Monday.”

TMB (4-3) will look to keep the momentum going when it hits the road to Dawson-Boyd on Tuesday with a 4:30 p.m. first pitch.