By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team finished Southwest Conference play with three contests late last week.The Cardinals swept a twin bill from Worthington in Luverne Thursday, knocking the Trojans out of the top spot in the league standings. Marshall nipped LHS by one run in Luverne Friday.Luverne finishes league play with a 6-6 record.Marshall 5, Luverne 4A late challenge by the Cards came up short during Friday’s one-run loss to the Tigers in Luverne.After scoring three runs to gain a 3-2 edge in the top of the fourth, Luverne found itself facing a 5-3 deficit when Marshall scored three times in the bottom of the fourth.The score remained the same until the top of the seventh, when Jake Clark reached base on a fielder’s choice and Micah Boomgaarden drew a walk with one out. Clark scored when Chris Fitzer grounded out, but Boomgaarden was stranded at third base when Marshall registered the final out of the game.Luverne’s three-run rally in the fourth featured run-scoring doubles from Boomgaarden and Marc Boelman and a RBI single from Ben Nath.Andrew DeBoer tossed three innings of four-run ball as the starting pitcher. He took the loss. Caleb Bruynes pitched three innings of one-run relief.Box score AB R H BIClark 4 2 1 0Boomgaarden 4 1 1 1Fitzer 3 0 0 1Boelman 4 1 1 1Petersen 3 0 0 0Nath 3 0 1 1Lundgren 2 0 0 0DeBoer 1 0 1 0Bruynes 2 0 1 0Goembel 3 0 2 0Luverne 3, Worthington 1Boelman pitched a complete game and Fitzer drove in a pair of runs to lead the Cardinals to a two-run victory over the Trojans during Thursday’s opening game.Boelman, who surrendered a solo home run in the top half of the first inning, blanked the Trojans over the next six innings. He fanned seven batters and yielded five hits without issuing a walk.Luverne tied the game at one in the bottom of the first when Clark singled before scoring on a single by Fitzer.The Cards produced the game’s final two runs in the third.Boomgaarden walked and scored when Fitzer doubled. Fitzer eventually scored on a walk.Box score AB R H BIClark 3 1 2 0Boomgaarden 0 1 0 0Fitzer 3 1 2 2Boelman 3 0 2 0Petersen 3 0 0 0Nath 3 0 2 0Lundgren 1 0 0 0Johnson 1 0 0 0DeBoer 2 0 0 0Reisch 1 0 0 0Elbers 2 0 0 0Luverne 9, Worthington 2The Cards scored three runs in the top of the third inning and never lost the lead in Thursday’s second game.Clark slapped a run-scoring single and Fitzer chased home two runs with a double in the third for LHS.Worthington scored twice in the bottom of the third, but LHS plated a single run in the fourth inning before erupting for five runs in the fifth to win by seven.Tyler Reisch doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew DeBoer in the fourth.Brett Lundgren singled home two runs and Reisch, Boelman and Boomgaarden chipped in RBI singles during the five-run fifth.Clark tossed five innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win. He walked three batters and was touched with one hit.Ben Nath pitched the first two innings and surrendered two runs.Box score AB R H BIClark 3 2 1 1Oeding 1 0 0 0Boomgaarden 4 0 2 1Fitzer 4 1 2 2Boelman 4 1 3 1Reisch 4 2 2 1Nath 3 0 0 0Lundgren 3 0 3 2Johnson 1 0 1 0DeBoer 3 1 0 1Goembel 1 1 0 0Petersen 1 0 0 0Elbers 1 0 0 0