Staff photo by Ari Selvey Springfield’s Madden Lendt slides home to score during a Tomahawk Division baseball game against Sleepy Eye Friday at Riverside Park.

SPRINGFIELD — Despite the chilly weather, Springfield got the early-season bats going as the Tigers downed Sleepy Eye 7-1 in a Tomahawk Division baseball game Friday at Riverside Park.

Springfield collected seven hits in the game.

“We spent a lot of time in the cage in the first three weeks,” Springfield head coach Brandon Wilhelmi said. “But I would say the biggest thing is guys having a good approach. You can kind of see the first time through the order we were maybe a bit hesitant, and then we started being aggressive. Seeing them hit the ball better made a big difference for us.”

Noah Neperman earned the win on the mound for Springfield, striking out five while allowing one unearned run on four hits in six innings. At the plate, Madden Lendt got the scoring going for Springfield with an RBI double in the second, adding another double with two RBIs in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

“I was just waiting for that fastball,” Lendt said. “It hit the bat and I hit it hard.”

Lendt said the key to get the bats going was trust in the bats around you.

“It just depends on the guy in front of you,” he said. “It’s hard to stop confidence in the game of baseball, and once you get going, you get going and it’s pretty hard to stop.”

Also for the Tigers, Adiel Trevino had a double and two runs scored, while Brayden Sturm was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Neperman and Kade Nachreiner each added a hit and an RBI.

Damian Sanchez took the loss for Sleepy Eye, allowing four earned runs on five hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings of work. At the plate, Landon Wendinger was 2 for 3 while Chase Zufall had an RBI. Jacob Fulmer added a hit and a run scored.

“I think the biggest difference between the two clubs today was they had the timely hit and we didn’t,” Sleepy Eye head coach Aaron Nesvold said. “We left a number of guys on base, I’d hate to look and see how many we did. But they had the big hit, and we didn’t. I thought both pitchers threw well. Damian walked maybe a couple more guys than we’d want him to, but he’s around the plate and he’s going to do what he does. I thought it was a pretty good game for being this early in the year. Maybe the temperature had a little to do with it, but it is what it is.”

Sleepy Eye opened the scoring in the first with Fulmer hitting a leadoff single. Kaden Klein put down a bunt and was able to beat out the throw to first. Fulmer advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error put into play by Zufall.

After the initial error in the first inning, the Springfield defense tightened up, beating out several runners to first on tough plays throughout the game.

“For not being outside a lot — and everyone’s in the same boat — we’re attacking the ball,” Wilhelmi said. “That [error] was one instance where we made a good play to stop it, fielded it, but we’ve just got to let it go, and we always talk about that. He made a couple good plays after that in letting it go and he finished the game on the mound. I think our team really rallies around each other and pick each other up. You can just tell these guys really enjoy being around each other and it’s fun to call it a win.”

Trevino hit a leadoff double in the second inning for Springfield, which Lendt immediately capitalized on with a double of his own to tie the game. Lendt took third on a wild pitch, then executed a double steal to score a second run. Nachreiner hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Brecken Heiling to take a 3-1 lead.

Both teams were held scoreless in the third and fourth innings, though Wendinger made it on base twice by beating out throws to first with a dive. Springfield came up with more timely hitting in the fifth inning with Lendt driving in Jackson Ludwig and Trevino with his second double. Sturm drove Lendt in with a single to put Springfield up 6-1, but was thrown out advancing to second for the third out.

Springfield added an insurance run in the sixth as Neperman drove in Nachreiner, and Trevino came in to pitch the final inning for the Tigers, delivering two strikeouts and coaxing a groundout to end the game.

Springfield (1-0, 1-0) hosts Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s in a doubleheader on Tuesday, while Sleepy Eye (1-1, 1-1) is scheduled to host Lester Prairie in a doubleheader on Monday.