Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Joey Crissinger celebrates with his team following his three-run home run in the forth inning of Tuesday afternoon's contest against Jackson County Central at Herb Wolf Field.

FAIRMONT – Joey Crissinger made all the right adjustments.

His first at-bat of the game wasn’t able to climb over the deepest part of Herb Wolf Field, resulting in a two-RBI triple rather than a complete jog around the base paths. Crissinger’s trip to the plate in the fourth inning told a different story.

This time around the junior squared the ball up completely, charging a hit to a more manageable part of the ballpark before all three Jackson County Central outfielders slowly turned around. Fairmont’s first home run of the season proved to be the game-ending delivery.

Fairmont scored a run in three of its four innings to cruise past the Huskies 10-0 on Tuesday afternoon. It marks the Cardinals’ third straight win and fourth in five games.

“In the pregame, we talked about being ready to go for the two hours we are here, and I think the guys did that very well,” Fairmont assistant coach Matt Lytle said. “We hit the ball well, played defense well and our pitchers were pounding the zone today.”

The “pounding the zone” aspect came from a tremendous bounce-back performance from sophomore starting pitcher Mason Bicknase. Bicknase finished his night with four innings of no-run baseball, giving up just two hits in the first before taking control the rest of the way.

It was a big improvement from his first outing of the season against Luverne. The sophomore took the loss while giving up four earned runs on five hits and five walks. Lytle saw the confidence in his young arm skyrocket this time around.

“He had a good bounce-back start here,” Lytle said. “I think it was a little warmer than his last start, so that helps. But it’s just the confidence. Every start, he’s going to get more confident. He’s a young kid and has a long way to go, but he’s a great pitcher for us right now.”

Crissinger’s first-inning triple was followed by an RBI single from Joseph Hackett, who repeated the process two frames later and gave Fairmont a 5-0 advantage. Merritt Pomerenke also struck the JCC pitching staff with two base knocks, and Jensen Livesay led all Fairmont batters with three hits, one of which was an RBI single in the fourth inning.

The Cardinals’ middle of the batting order – two through five hitters – went a combined 9-12 from the plate with nine runs batted in. Tuesday’s game wasn’t just a one-off either. Fairmont’s offense has seen an uptick in production as of late, averaging just over 11 runs during the past five contests. Part of the reason has been simply seeing more pitches. More pitches in a game-like setting only favors the offense.

“With the more at-bats, we just get more comfortable,” Lytle said. “We’re finding the right lineups to get guys on base for our middle of the order, and the middle of the order did pretty well today.”

Fairmont will return to Herb Wolf Field this Thursday for another home contest, this time against Waseca. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., but could change based on the incoming weather.