By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team remained alive in the Section 3AA Tournament after going 2-1 during the first three rounds.The Cardinals bested Murray County Central by eight runs during Saturday’s opener in Pipestone before falling by eight runs to Pipestone at the same site later that day. Luverne traveled to Windom for an elimination game against Renville County West Tuesday, nipping the Jaguars by two runs.Luverne, 11-9 overall, played Tracy-Milroy-Balaton in another elimination Wednesday night in Milroy.Luverne 4, RCW 2The Cardinals passed their first test in the tournament’s losers’ bracket when they bested the Jaguars by two runs in Windom Tuesday.LHS scored four runs in the middle innings and made them stand up against RCW.The Jaguars pushed a run across the plate in the bottom of the second inning, but Luverne countered with a three-run third inning and added another counter in the fourth to open a 4-1 cushion.Singles by J.T. Bruynes, Jared Pick and Zach Wysong loaded the sacks in the third. Marc Boelman and Ben Nath singled home runs, and Taylor Graphenteen drew a walk to force home another during the third.Pinch-runner Derek Elbers scored Luverne’s run in the fourth inning when he dashed home from third base after Wysong was caught in a rundown between first and second base.Bruynes tossed one and one-third innings of one-run relief to pick up the pitching win. Pick blanked RCW over the final two and two-thirds innings to notch a save. Brad Herman started the game on the mound, allowing one run in three innings.Box score AB R H BIPick 4 1 1 0Wysong 3 1 2 0Boelman 4 0 1 2Herman 3 0 0 0Cote 1 0 0 0Graphenteen 2 0 0 1Nath 2 0 1 1Richters 2 0 0 0Elbers 0 1 0 0Bruynes 2 1 1 0Oeding 1 0 0 0Pipestone 15, Luverne 7The Cardinals slipped into the losers’ bracket after dropping an eight-run decision to the Arrows during a second-round game played in Pipestone Saturday.Luverne got off to a great start by opening a 7-0 lead after one and one-half innings of play, but the Arrows outscored the Cards 15-0 the rest of the way to win by eight.Herman and Boelman doubled home runs and John Tofteland and Dustin Richters slapped RBI singles to give the Cards a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.Herman doubled home two runs and Graphenteen added a run-scoring double in the second inning to give the Cards a seven-run lead, but that marked the end of Luverne’s offensive production.Pipestone’s Tim Stotz belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the second to make it a 7-3 game, and Danny Moffitt drilled a three-run homer to highlight a 10-run fourth inning for the Arrows to all but end the game.Wysong started the game for LHS and took the loss after surrendering seven runs (four were earned) in three and one-third innings. Bruynes tossed one-third of one inning, yielding six unearned runs. Nate Boler pitched two and one-third innings of two-run (one was earned) ball.Box score AB R H BIJ.Pick 3 1 1 0Wysong 1 2 1 0Boelman 3 1 1 1B.Pick 1 0 0 0Herman 4 2 3 3Graphenteen 4 0 1 1Nath 3 1 0 0Cote 0 0 0 0Tofteland 4 0 1 1Richters 3 0 1 1Bruynes 2 0 0 0Boler 1 0 0 0Luverne 13, MCC 5The Cardinals opened the tournament by handing the Rebels an eight-run setback Saturday in Pipestone.Luverne fell behind 1-0 early in the game before rallying to outscore MCC 15-4 the rest of the way.Graphenteen, who led the Cards with five hits in the contest, doubled and scored the game-tying run when Tofteland singled in the top of the second.A six-run third inning gave the Cards a commanding 7-1 advantage. Nath provided the key blow during the rally with a three-run homer. Jared Pick singled home two runs and Graphenteen added an RBI single.With the help of some MCC errors, Luverne proceeded to score four runs in the fifth inning and two in the seventh to win handily.Graphenteen doubled home two runs in the fifth, when the Cards scored two more unearned counters to open an 11-3 advantage. Herman doubled home a run and LHS added one more unearned run to cap the scoring in the top of the seventh.Pick pitched five innings of five-hit, five-strikeout ball to pick up the win. He allowed three runs (two were earned). Herman tossed one and two-thirds innings of two-run relief. Bruynes registered the final out of the game.Box score AB R H BIJ.Pick 5 0 2 2Wysong 4 2 2 0Boelman 5 3 1 0Herman 4 0 1 1Lundgren 1 1 0 0Graphenteen 5 2 5 3Nath 5 1 1 3Tofteland 5 1 2 1Richters 3 2 1 0Bruynes 2 1 0 0