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After the Huskies scored their first run on a walk and two doubles, Paynesville made three errors to prolong the first inning, allowing the Huskies to erase a two-run deficit and take a 6-2 lead.

The Dogs scored two more runs in the third to get within 6-4, but Albany scored a run in the bottom of the third and neither team scored after that.

With the win, Albany tied the Dogs at 3-3 in the West Central Conference North. They are tied for third in the conference standings behind St. Cloud Cathedral (5-1) and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle (3-2). The Dogs had beaten Albany 9-6 in their home conference opener in April.

The Dogs took a 2-0 lead against Albany in the top of the first. Junior Jamie Paul reached on an error, junior Trent Hansen singled, and senior Justin Butkofski singled to load the bases. The first run scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Mike Mueller, and the second scored on a single by senior Chris Beier.

Albany quickly took the lead though, thanks to the Dogs' generous defense. The Huskies scored six runs in the bottom of the first, five of them unearned due to three Bulldog errors.

"We didn't play very good defense," said coach Brad Skoglund. "Against good ball clubs like Albany, we've got to play solid defense. That's one aspect we're really going to work hard on in practice is defense."

In the third, Butkofski walked, Mueller singled, and Beier walked to load the bases with no one out. The Dogs scored two runs on a fielder's choice and sacrifice fly that inning.

Butkofski was tagged with the pitching loss, despite allowing only two earned runs.

This week, the Dogs (8-5 overall) played at conference-leading and top-ranked St. Cloud Cathedral on Tuesday. They will host Melrose on Thursday. Next week, the Dogs will travel to Long Prairie on Tuesday, May 17.

Paynesville--	202	000	0	- 4	7	4
Albany--	601	000	0	- 7	7	2

Paynesville - Batting: Justin Butkofski 2-3 R; Trent Hansen 2-4 R; Chris Beier 1-2 RBI; Mike Mueller 1-3 RBI R; Jamie Paul 1-3 R; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Butkofski (L) (6-7-7-2-0-1).

Albany - Batting: Ryan Mareck 2-4 2B R RBI; Ben Douvier 2-4 2B R RBI; Tom Hanson 1-2 2B R; Randy Lockridge; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Lockridge (W) (4-7-4-3-3-3); Charlie Lockridge (3-0-0-0-0-1).

Paynesville 5, Melrose 4
The Dogs scored four runs in the second inning and held on to beat Melrose 5-4 on Thursday. The win gave the Dogs a 1-2 record in three conference road games last week.

The Bulldogs scored all five of their runs on two-out hits. Senior Mike Mueller drove home the Dogs' first run with a two-out double in the first inning, giving the Dogs a 1-0 lead.

In the second, junior John Hemingson and senior Brandon Berg singled and a Melrose error loaded the bases. Junior Trent Hansen drove home the Dogs' second run with a two-out single, and senior Justin Butkofski followed with a bases-clearing double off the fence in left-center, giving the Dogs a 5-0 lead.

Melrose scored with a solo homer in the bottom of the second and a three-run homer in the fifth inning, but the Dogs held on to win 5-4.

Skoglund said the team played well to win at Melrose, which Paynesville has not done very often. The team got good, clutch hitting, said Skoglund, and a outstanding pitching performance by senior Chris Beier, who went right after the hitters and "threw the heck out of the ball."

Beier pitched a complete game to earn the victory for the Dogs.

Paynesville--	140	000	0	- 5	9	3
Melrose--	010	030	0	- 4	6	1

Paynesville - Batting: John Hemingson 2-4 2B R; Mike Mueller 2-4 RBI; Justin Butkofski 1-4 2B RBI-3; Trent Hansen 1-3 R RBI; Jamie Paul 1-3 R; Brandon Berg 1-3 R; Ryan Hess 1-3 R; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Chris Beier (W) (7-6-4-4-1-6).

Melrose - Batting: Ryan Kremer 2-3 HR; Nick Rademacher 2-3 2B; Adam Stangler 1-4 HR RBI-3.

Sauk Centre 11, Paynesville 1
Sauk Centre broke open the game by scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and beat the Dogs 11-1 on Tuesday, May 3, for their first conference victory.

This game shows how balanced the conference is, according to Skoglund. Any team can beat any other team on any given day, noted Skoglund, who praised the play of the Streeters, who had 14 hits.

Sauk Centre got a two-run homer in the first inning and led 3-0 before the Dogs scored their only run in the top of the fourth on junior John Hemingson's RBI double.

Sauk Centre answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth, another in the fifth, and then six in the sixth, scoring six runs on five hits and three walks while making only one out.

Paynesville--	000	100	x	- 1	4	1
Sauk Centre--	210	116	x	- 11	14	1

Paynesville - Batting: John Hemingson 2-2 2B-2 RBI; Justin Butkofski 1-2 R; Mitch Callenius 1-1; Pitching: (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) Jamie Paul (L) (5-9-7-7-3-5); Ryan Hess (0.1-5-4-4-1-0).

Sauk Centre - Batting: Casey Poepping 3-4 R-3; Zach Winter 3-4 HR 2B; Isaac Berlin 2-4 2B R-2; Weston Wander 2-4 2B R.