Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Brayden Williamson (10) and Joe Long (13) scamper home during the seventh inning of Thursday afternoon's contest against St. James Area at Veterans Field. The Cardinals took down the Saints to extend their winning streak to seven.

ST. JAMES – The turbulent wind conditions at Veterans Field prevented most flyballs from going outside the range of any fielders playing in the grass. That is, until Jensen Livesay came up to the plate in the seventh inning.

Fairmont’s first baseman charged a ball that not only cleared the right side fence, but struck the final blow to a pesky St. James Area home team. Livesay’s two-RBI trip around the base paths put the finishing touches on the Cardinals’ 6-3 victory on Thursday, making it seven consecutive wins for head coach Don Waletich’s squad.

It also stamped Fairmont’s ticket to this year’s Big South Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon against Marshall (17-3). First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Herb Wolf Field. The Tigers took down Fairmont, 3-1, during April 9th’s season opener. Since then, the Cardinals have gone 15-3 and have played some of their best baseball as of late. Thursday’s win exemplified their momentum.

“Late in a season, where you go through a little adversity with the wind, rain, and using a bunch of arms. It’s good to face some adversity at the end of the year,” Fairmont assistant coach Matt Lytle said. “We’re going to face some going forward, so it’s good to get a little test here.”

Mason Bicknase got the start for Waletich and strung together another confident outing on the rubber. While unable to finish the fifth inning, the right-hander struck out four batters and gave up four hits that led to a lone earned run. That blemish came immediately in the home half of the first.

Max Westman’s soft single to right field turned into a trip to second base after Bicknase’s wild pick-off attempt one batter later. This left a prime opportunity for Saints’ clean-up hitter Sawyer Olson, who cashed in the score after ripping a double down the right field foul line and put his team on the board. It was one of the only hard-hit balls to find grass until later in the game.

This was partly because of the performance of both pitchers. Breyden Sodeman matched Bicknase’s step in every facet for St. James Area. He worked through Fairmont’s lineup with efficiency to start, collecting a pair of 1-2-3 innings while forcing all contact to go right near his defense behind him. The Cardinals had just one hit going into the fifth.

The spark that ignited Fairmont’s offense was none other than its starting pitcher. Bicknase’s hard grounder to the left side of the infield was too much for the Saints’ shortstop, marking an infield single and the start of something more.

Vincent Schultz’s bloop hit to shallow center field was followed by consecutive RBI line drives from Joe Long and Merritt Pomerenke two batters later. Even with Sodeman forcing flyouts from Livesay and Joey Crissinger to end the frame, the mindset at the plate had changed for Fairmont. The hard contact that previously died in the wind was finally beginning to find open grass.

“I think we just simplified some at-bats,” Lytle said. “We really focused on line drives going the other way and using the wind. Starting in the fifth inning with Mason Bicknase, once one guy sees the other get on, you see that snowball effect and things get rolling.”

Bicknase’s day on the rubber was complete partway through the fifth. His opening walk to Nolan Stresemann turned into trouble after Brayden Williamson was unable to corral Westman’s chopper up the middle with one out.

Nolyn Goerndt entered the first and third situation and helped Fairmont escape the inning relatively clean. A balk from the right-hander drew the tying run the Saints desperately needed two pitches in. However, a nifty defensive play from Crissinger behind the plate threw out Westman at second. Goerndt then used his pitching arsenal to punch out Olson and avoid further damage. It was a momentum shift that proved fatal to St. James Area.

The line drive party continued for Fairmont’s offense in the top of the seventh. No. 8 hole hitter Mac Larson got things going by driving a ball to the right side for a quick single. Long’s initial sacrifice bunt turned into a trip to first base after he used his speed to beat out any sort of throw.

St. James Area’s defensive lapse turned into a catastrophe. Pomerenke collected his second and third RBIs of the afternoon with yet another line drive hit to shallow left field that put him on second base.

It took Livesay just one pitch to drive his aforementioned home run that drew Fairmont ahead 6-2. This put an end to Sodeman’s night for the Saints. The junior wrapped up his six innings of work with six earned runs off 10 hits.

Fairmont’s offense has acted as a well-oiled machine of late. Since the start of their winning streak on May 5, the Cardinals have scored in double figures in all but one contest, averaging a hair over 13 runs in that stretch.

Thursday afternoon’s contest didn’t match that lofty number. But with Sodeman’s hot start and the whipping wind conditions, Fairmont was still able to plate six runs on 10 hits. The production was still there.

“I think we’ve figured out our lineup,” Lytle said. “Our top of the order guys are getting on for our two big guys batting second and third [Livesay and Crissinger]. If they’re on, [Joseph] Hackett is there to clean it up. Plus, our bottom of the lineup is finding ways to get on, whether that’s a walk or a single, and it again just restarts at the top. I think we are catching our stride at a nice time.”