BANCROFT, Iowa — It took 30-plus-mile road trips by both the Fairmont Martins and Blue Earth Pirates, but their season-opening amateur baseball game is officially in the books.

Spencer Chirpich went 2-for-2, was hit by pitch twice, drew two walks and scored four runs with one RBI, while teammate Tyler Tennyson got the job done both on the mound and from the batter’s box to pace Fairmont’s 11-3 triumph over Blue Earth at Bancroft Memorial Park on Wednesday night.

Since both the Martins’ home ballpark — Herb Wolf Field — and the Pirates’ home diamond in Blue Earth were off-limits due to Minnesota’s moratorium due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two border baseball lineups hit the road to Bancroft, Iowa.

Tennyson, who started on the hill and pitched five innings to earn the win, assisted his own cause in the bottom of the first inning. Tennyson, who went 2-for-5 with a game-best three RBIs, plated a run with a ground out before a wild pitch accounted for the second run. Jack Waletich and Chirpich each scored after generating singles for the Martins.

Kaylan Legred, however, answered for the Pirates during the top of the second inning when he smacked a tying two-run single.

Chirpich then scored Fairmont’s go-ahead run on Derek Shoen’s RBI single in the bottom of the third inning before Jon Traetow delivered a two-run double for a 5-2 lead on the scoreboard.

Anders Fering drilled a solo home run to inch Blue Earth within 5-3 during the top of the fourth, but the Pirates would not score again during the final five frames.

Levi Becker and Blake Crawmer each singled to trigger the Martins’ four-run fourth at-bat. Waletich produced an RBI single and Tennyson hammered a two-run single to extend the lead to 9-3.

Ethan Hurn’s two-run double in the home half of the fifth capped the offensive production for the Martins.

Tennyson recorded four strikeouts and issued only two walks in five innings of work to earn the victory for Fairmont. The right-handed starting pitcher gave up three runs on 10 hits.

Adam Schmidt notched two strikeouts without issuing a walk in three hitless and scoreless innings of relief for the Martins.

Traetow recorded one strikeout in a near-perfect — one Blue Earth batter reached on an error — inning of relief for Fairmont.

The Martins (1-0) return to Bancroft Memorial Park on Saturday for a pair of seven-inning games. Fairmont squares off against New Ulm at noon before taking on host Bancroft at approximately 5 p.m.

Pirates 020 100 000 – 3

Martins 203 402 00x – 11