Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm senior Mya Hornick races to third during a Big South Conference softball game against Marshall on Tuesday at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — A 12-run third inning made for a quick Big South Conference softball game Tuesday as the New Ulm Eagles broke open a three-run game to down Marshall 15-0 in four innings at New Ulm High School.

The game was called in the fourth due to the 15-run lead rule.

The Eagles racked up seven hits in the third and had 14 total base runners.

The Eagles were able to get every player out of the dugout and into the game with the big third inning against a young Marshall team. The Tigers graduated eight key players from last season’s team.

“Marshall, even thought they’re young this year, they’ve been putting up a fight against good teams,” Eagles head coach Kristi Andersen Loose said. “So they’re doing a great job and they’re building and they’re going to grow and do really great things and be back. They started off great with us, they held us, kept us off balance, and I’m just proud of our team for being able to hang in there and work through it and stay in their game and not get out of their head. Marshall’s just athletes, they’re athletes all-around and their school in general has sent us home in sections quite a few times, so that’s nice for the girls to have a moment of their own with Marshall and not so high stress like last year.”

New Ulm’s last win over Marshall came in the Section 2AAA Softball Tournament last season, a 1-0 win.

Marshall got its first hits of the game in the fourth off reliever Miley Flor, a leadoff double from sophomore Sara Dallmann and an infield single from Naya Grahn, one of two Marshall seniors on the team. Dallmann took third on a passed ball before Grahn’s single, and a groundout moved Grahn to second, but senior second baseman Kenzie Enter fielded a grounder near first and fired home to catcher Berkley Wilfahrt, who tagged out Dallmann for the second out to keep the shutout going.

Enter then ended the game early by fielding another grounder and throwing to first.

“We always work hard, that’s just one of the things, we always go hard no matter the team,” Enter said. “We always push each other and learn everything every game.”

Wilfahrt led the Eagles at the plate, going 2 for 2 with a triple and an RBI, while Mya Hornick was 2 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs.

Ramsey Hopp pitched the first three innings for New Ulm, allowing one walk and no hits while striking out six.

Alissa Moen got the start in the circle and took the loss for Marshall, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out five in 2 2/3 innings. Dallmann pitched in relief and got an out but struggled to get out of the third inning for Moen before Moen took the circle again and got a strikeout to end New Ulm’s big inning.

In what was a sign of things to come for Marshall, Moen got Maddie Backer to strike out to lead off the bottom of the first, but Backer took first anyway on a dropped third strike. Backer then swiped second and scored on an error at first base that allowed Enter to reach safely. Enter tried for two on the error but was tagged out at second for the first out before Moen got a strikeout and pop out to end the first inning down 1-0.

New Ulm got two more in the second after Wilfahrt led off with a triple and was bunted in by Hornick, who reached safely. Hornick was advanced to second on a groundout and took third on a wild pitch. A bunt by Bridgette Roiger then led to some indecision in the infield which led to a throw home. Hornick slid back into third safely, however, allowing Roiger to reach first. Roiger kept Marshall confused on the same play as she took off for second, providing enough of a distraction to allow Hornick to run home and make it 3-0.

Then came New Ulm’s third inning, which was highlighted by RBIs double from Backer and Lauren Schmiesing, an RBI triple from Hornick and a two-run single from Gracie Baker. Flor ended the scoring when she hit a missile into center field that was unable to be hauled in, clearing the bases for three runs and allowing her to take second.

Addison Hage also had a bunt single RBI in the third for New Ulm, while Enter had a single.

New Ulm (5-0, 3-0) is at Tri-City United for a conference game Thursday, while Marshall (0-7, 0-5) hosts New Ulm in a rematch Monday.