Photo by Jake Olson: Mac Larson (left) and Merritt Pomerenke (center) celebrate Jensen Livesay (right) scoring a run during Tuesday afternoon's contest against Blue Earth Area.

FAIRMONT – Batting through the lineup is usually a telltale sign of offensive success for any baseball team. Fairmont did this twice in the first two innings of Tuesday night’s contest against Blue Earth Area, tallying 22 runs in that stretch to power a 25-6 victory at Herb Wolf Field.

Outside of taking care of miscues from the Buccaneer defense, Fairmont’s batting order racked up 12 hits to pace the constant attack at the plate. Joey Crissinger led the charge with three extra base hits, two of which came in the first inning, that brought in five runners.

Joe Long brought in four runners in the contest, three coming off an inside-the-park home run that cleared the basepaths in the second inning. Eight of the nine starters crossed the plate at least once for the Cardinals.

“I think everybody went up with a game plan today to hit strikes and stay within the zone. They executed that pretty well,” Fairmont assistant coach Matt Lytle said.

Crissinger’s two RBI double in the first inning set the stage for a Fairmont offensive onslaught that never ceased. After drawing three walks from Mac Larson, Brayden Williamson and Vincent Schultz, Long and Nolyn Goerndt tacked on three more scores via single and sacrifice flyout.

Long’s no-out rocket to the left-center field gap set the stage for another big frame in the second. Larson, Schultz and Crissinger had a single, double and triple that scored runs later in the inning. Fairmont’s bottom three hitters went a combined 4 for 7 from the plate with three walks and a hit by pitch.

BEA scored four of its six runs in an impressive second inning. During Preston Geerdes’ final frame of work, the Buccaneers attacked the sophomore with four runs on five hits, including a two RBI single from Ethan Farnham to the left side. The Cardinals used a mix of Owen Terfehr, Merritt Pomerenke and Goerndt to finish off the rest of the game on the mound.

Fairmont returns to the diamond this Friday with a doubleheader contest at Redwood Valley starting at 4:00 p.m.

“It’s great to face great teams at the beginning of the year. It really shows how good we are and are hoping to be someday,” Lytle said.