Faribault VFW loses both games in doubleheader at Rochester Mayo

The Faribault VFW baseball team traveled to Rochester Saturday to take on the Mayo VFW team in a doubleheader.

The two games took place within a four-game road stretch for Faribault. Faribault lost the first game 6-3 and lost the second game via a walkoff at 1-0. The latter loss was the fifth straight for Faribault amid a tough stretch.

Faribault opened the first game of the double header on Saturday with a single and two hit by pitches to load the bases in the top of the top of the first. A third straight hit by pitch allowed Ben Cunniff, who was the leadoff hitter who hit a single to start the game, to score to give Faribault an early lead.

Rochester Mayo scored two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-1 lead, and then scored one run in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead over Faribault.

Faribault started the top of the fifth inning with a walk by Cunniff and a single by Grant Koch. A groundout and a fielder’s choice groundout allowed both Cunniff and Koch to score in the inning, having Faribault tie the game up at 3.

But Mayo answered in the sixth inning as a single, a triple, and an error allowed Mayo to score three runs to take a 6-3 lead over Faribault. Faribault was unable to answer in the top of the seventh, with Mayo retiring the side in order to win the first game of the doubleheader.

Faribault struggled offensively, as they only had three hits compared to Mayo’s seven, with Koch having two and Cunniff having one. Faribault also struggled defensively as they recorded three errors to Mayo’s zero.

The second game was a low-scoring affair, as the only run of the game came in the bottom of the seventh off of a single by Mayo to score the walkoff run.

Although both teams were unable to score the majority of the game, each team had more hits than they had in the first game of the doubleheader, with Faribault having eight hits and Mayo having nine. Ryan Kreager led Faribault with three hits while Luke McCrea had two.

Faribault’s defense played a clean game as they recorded no errors while Mayo recorded two. Atley Qualey pitched a solid game, going six and two thirds innings.

Faribault ends their four-game road stretch on Wednesday against Waseca before they return home for the last five games of the regular season. Faribault returns to Bell Field on Sunday with a doubleheader against Rochester Century at 11:00 a.m.