On Thursday night, the Marshall County Dusters moved back to the .500 mark by defeating the Murfreesboro Central Magnet Tigers 7-6 in eight innings at home in the first game of a doubleheader.

The Dusters trailed 5-4 through the first six innings of play before tallying a run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 5-5.

Murfreesboro Central Magnet then scored a run in the top of the eighth to seize a 6-5 advantage, but Marshall County (5-5) plated two unearned runs in the bottom half of the frame with the help of two walks, an error, a wild pitch, and a balk to pull out the victory.

Walks help

The Tigers actually outhit the Dusters 13-7, but Marshall County held a 4-0 edge in walks and were aided by four Murfreesboro Central Magnet errors, which contributed to three of their seven runs.

Starting pitcher Ryan McDaniel did the most damage at the plate for the Dusters by going 2-for-3 with a walk, two doubles, and 4 RBI. Dylan McKnight tallied two hits and two runs scored for Marshall County as well, while Bubba Houghton, Hayden Bailey, and Grayson Wiles each had one hit.

McDaniel also went the distance on the mound to pick up the win and recorded seven strikeouts in eight innings of work.

Alex Ropp went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI to lead the Tigers at the plate, while Taylor Sailing (1 RBI), McKenzie Jackson, and Jacob Crume notched two hits apiece.

First blood

Marshall County got off to a fast start and pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. After McKnight singled and advanced to third on a MCM error, Matt Sharp and Bailey both drew walks to load the bases with two outs. McDaniel then cleared the bags by lacing a three-run double into the right centerfield gap.

Murfreesboro Central Magnet saw their bats heat up in the top of the third, as they crossed home plate four times in the frame on the strength of a Spencer Hiland triple, a single by Sailing, a Jackson bunt single, a RBI single by Darek Sargent, an Austin Worley RBI groundout, a RBI single by Ropp, and two Duster errors to pull ahead 4-3.

Marshall County tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a RBI double by McDaniel, before MCM seized a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth on a RBI single by Ropp.

The Dusters stranded a man at second in the sixth inning, but tallied a run in the bottom of the seventh to knot the contest at 5-5. After Richardson drew a walk, courtesy runner Connor Bush advanced to second on a single by Wiles before Zack Kirby drew another free pass to load the bases with two outs. Lane Whitesell then hit a pop up and was called out because of the the infield fly rule, but Bush alertly raced home with the tying run when Tiger second baseman Trey Schueler dropped the ball.

Exciting finish

Murfreesboro Central Magnet grabbed a 6-5 lead in the top of the eighth on a RBI single by Sailing before Marshall County scored twice in the bottom half of the frame. Following a leadoff walk by McKnight, Sharp reached base on an error to put runners on first and second with no outs. After both runners moved up 90 feet on a Houghton sacrifice bunt, McKnight scored on a wild pitch to retie the game at 6-6. MCM then intentionally walked McDaniel before the Tiger pitcher was called for a balk on a steal attempt by pinch runner Trent Wiles and Sharp trotted home with the winning run to give the Dusters the 7-6 victory.