'Dogs fire up bats in win at Spencer

Le Mars recovered from an 11-8 loss to Spencer at the Carroll Kuemper tournament Sunday with a 14-3 lashing in Lakes Conference action in Spencer on Monday evening.

A six-run seventh inning, which included a three-run homer from Tanner Dowling, powered the Bulldogs to victory.

The 'Dogs pounded out 18 hits in the win to help Jay Penning cruise along on the mound.

The senior threw a complete game, surrendering three runs on five hits and two walks and fanning 13.

"Jay had good velocity tonight," Le Mars coach Trent Eckstaine said. "He was throwing good stuff without a doubt. The main thing was that Jay was challenging the hitters."

"He also helped himself out [at the plate]," Eckstaine added.

Penning registered a 2-for-3 plate performance that included a double, a triple, two runs and two RBIs.

Dowling led the Bulldog offense with a 4-for-5 showing. The junior leftfielder belted a home run and a triple, scored three runs and drove in five more.

Keaton Rowe was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Bryce Dahm was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs and Aaron Fischer was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

"Conference-wise this is a good win for us, coming down through the stretch," Eckstaine said. "After you play a couple bad ones, you want to put those behind you and put together a good one and we did that."

"When you throw your No. 1 guy out there, you're going to get a good outing every time," he continued. "He's going to help you right the ship a little bit and that's what Jay [Penning] did for us tonight."

The 'Dogs started their offensive fire slowly, scoring one run each in the first, second and third innings. They added two in the fifth and three in the sixth to take an 8-3 lead before the six-run seventh.

The Bulldogs (12-11, 8-4) step out of league play to face Sioux City North on the road Wednesday before returning home to face Cherokee in Lakes action Thursday.