By Dale Miller
dale.miller@theindependent.com

The Gators scored all their runs with two outs while knocking off the Class A No. 10-rated (Omaha World-Herald) Islanders, 7-5.

North Star (10-3) also had seven of its 10 hits and five of its seven walks with Grand Island one out away from ending an inning.

Add in the fact that all four of the Gators' runs in the third inning were unearned, and it was a frustrating day for the home team.

"Those unearned runs hurt us in the end," G.I. coach Rick Kissack said. "We'd get two outs and couldn't get the third. The third out is usually the toughest to get."

Offensively, Grand Island used three home runs to stay in the game, but it couldn't generate enough runs to make up for its pitching and defensive struggles.

Lincoln North Star took a 1-0 lead when Nate Wilder scored on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning.

The Islanders (6-8) answered with Kash Kalkowski's solo home run to left field in the bottom of the inning.

Casey Griffin added a solo homer to left to lead off the second and put Grand Island up 2-1.

But after getting two quick outs in the top of the third, things fell apart for the Islanders.

Seven straight Gators reached base, the first on an error. John Branum and Zach Buller each had RBI singles to help Lincoln North Star take a 5-2 lead.

Grand Island pulled within 5-4 when Griffin went deep again. His two-run shot over the fence in left field came with no outs in the fourth. He finished the day 3-for-3.

"Casey obviously had a big day with the two home runs," Kissack said. "We asked Casey to move and play third base full time. He had a few mistakes there, but his bat speaks for itself."

The Gators tacked on two more runs in the fifth, and the Islanders only managed one in the seventh when Kalkowski singled, stole second, moved to third on an error and went home on a wild pitch.

"For the most part we hit the ball well," Kissack said. "We couldn't string enough (hits) together. The hits we had were hard ones, and we hit it out. We just didn't have enough."

Anthony Ruhl picked up the win while giving up four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out and walked two. Jared Ryder gave up one run in 1 2/3 innings for the save. Ryder, the No. 9 hitter, also went 3-for-3 with a walk.

Dylan Meier took the loss for the Islanders. He gave up five runs (one earned) on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked four.

Lincoln North Star (10-3) 104 020 07 19 1

Grand Island (6-8) 110 200 15 8 3

WPRuhl. LPMeier. Sv.Ryder. 2BLNS, Wilder. HRGI, Kalkowski, Griffin 2.

Islanders the No. 2 seed for HAC Tournament

Grand Island is the No. 2 seed for the Heartland Athletic Conference baseball tournament and will open play at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sherman Field in Lincoln against No. 7-seeded Lincoln High.

With a win the Islanders would advance to a 7 p.m. Friday game at Sherman Field against the winner of a game between No. 3 seed Lincoln Southeast and No. 6 seed Lincoln Northeast. With a loss, GISH would play the Southeast-Northeast loser at 5 p.m. Friday at Den Hartog Field in Lincoln.

HAC Tournament

Thursday, April 10

At Den Hartog Field, Lincoln

Game 1Lincoln Southwest (No. 4 seed) vs. Lincoln East (No. 5), 5 p.m.

At Sherman Field, Lincoln

Game 2Lincoln Southeast (No. 3) vs. Lincoln Northeast (No. 6), 5 p.m.

Game 3Grand Island (No. 2) vs. Lincoln High (No. 7), 7 p.m.

Friday, April 11

At Den Hartog Field, Lincoln

Game 4Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 5 p.m.

At Sherman Field, Lincoln

Game 5Lincoln North Star (No. 1) vs. Winner Game 1, 5 p.m.

Game 6Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 12

At Sherman Field, Lincoln

Fifth Place

Game 7Loser Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4, 1 p.m.

Third Place

Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 3 p.m.

Championship

Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 5 p.m.