By John RittenhouseThe Luverne baseball team battled its way through the loser’s bracket of the Section 3AA Tournament, giving the Cardinals a chance to play for a section title tonight in Granite Falls.Playing four elimination games in a span of seven days, the Cardinals defeated Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, Lac qui Parle Valley, Montevideo and Windom to remain alive in the double-elimination event.The 15-9 Cardinals will play Pipestone, the tournament’s lone undefeated team at 5 p.m. today in Granite Falls. An LHS victory in the opener would set up a championship game later this evening.Luverne 4, Windom 3The Cardinals recorded their fifth straight win in elimination play when they nipped the Eagles by one run in Marshall Tuesday.Trailing 3-2 entering the bottom half of the seventh inning, Luverne battled back to tie the game by scoring one unearned run and won it with another unearned counter in the eighth frame.Facing a one-run deficit in the seventh, Jared Pick and J.T. Bruynes started a one-out rally by drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch respectively. Zach Wysong then sent a bouncer to Windom’s shortstop, who booted the ball, allowing Pick to score the tying run.Brett Lundgren walked and Brad Herman reached base on an error to start the eighth inning. Dustin Richters attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but Lundgren was forced out at third base.With Herman on second base and Richters occupying first, Richters was instructed to take an extra big lead off the bag. By doing so, he drew a throw to first from the pitcher. Windom’s first baseman couldn’t catch the ball, allowing it to roll down the right-field line. Herman scored from second base on the throwing error to end the game.Windom scored the game’s first run in the top of the fourth before Lundgren drew a bases-loaded walk and Herman slapped an RBI single to give the Cards a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth.The Eagles regained the lead at 3-2 in the top of the fifth.Herman pitched four and one-third innings of two-hit, three-run (one was earned) ball without gaining a decision. Wysong picked up the win after tossing three and two-thirds innings of two-hit, scoreless relief.Box score AB R H BIPick 2 1 1 0Bruynes 2 0 0 0Wysong 3 1 1 0Boelman 2 1 0 0Nath 4 0 0 0Lundgren 1 0 0 0Herman 3 1 1 1Richters 4 0 1 0Tofteland 4 0 0 0Luverne 17,Montevideo 8The Cardinals completed their two-game sweep in Granite Falls Monday by rolling to a nine-run victory over the Thunder Hawks.Luverne scored 12 runs in the first three innings of the contest during a 17-run, 16-hit offensive eruption. Marc Boelman and Ben Nath led the offensive outburst by driving in four runs each. Wysong chipped in three RBIs.The Cards opened a commanding 12-0 lead by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning, six in the second and four in the third.Boelman, who was a homer short of hitting for a cycle during the game, opened the scoring with a two-run double in the first.Nath belted a three-run homer, Wysong doubled home two runs and Bruynes contributed a sacrifice fly to the six-run rally in the second. Boelman tripled home two runs, Bruynes slapped an RBI single and Wysong recorded a sacrifice fly to make it 12-0 in the third.Montevideo put together a five-run rally in the bottom of the fifth to avoid losing the game by the 10-run rule, but the Cards answered with a four-run surge in the sixth featuring a run-scoring double by Nath and RBI singles from Lundgren, Richters and Pick to lead 16-5.Montevideo plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth before Luverne capped the scoring when Wysong doubles and scored on an error in the seventh.Bruynes pitched a complete game for the Cards. He surrendered eight hits and six walks during a four-strikeout performance.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 3 2 1Bruynes 4 2 2 2Wysong 4 2 2 3Boelman 3 2 3 4Nath 4 2 2 4Cote 5 0 0 0Lundgren 5 1 0 1Richters 4 3 3 1Tofteland 4 2 2 0Luverne 7, LQPV 1The Cardinals opened play Tuesday by besting the Eagles in a six-run contest played in Granite Falls.The teams battled to a scoreless draw through three innings of play, but Luverne assumed control of the contest by scoring six runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth to open a 7-0 advantage.Richters and Bruynes came up with key hits by delivering a two-run single and a two-run double during the six-run fourth. Nath added an RBI double and John Tofteland contributed a run-scoring single to the rally.Nath singled and scored on an error in the top of the fifth before LQPV plated its lone run of the game, an unearned counter, against Luverne pitcher Pick.Pick tossed a gem for LHS, limiting the Eagles to five hits and one walk while recording nine strikeouts.Box score AB R H BIPick 2 0 1 0Bruynes 3 0 1 2Wysong 3 1 2 0Boelman 4 0 0 0Nath 4 2 2 1Herman 4 1 1 0Lundgren 3 1 1 0Richters 4 1 1 2Tofteland 4 1 1 1Luverne 8, T-M-B 3The Cardinals won their second straight elimination game when they topped the Panthers by five runs in Milroy Wednesday, June 1.The game was tied at two after five innings of play, but the Cardinals scored six runs in the final two innings to win handily.Luverne’s Tofteland and Pick ignited a four-run rally in the top of the sixth with a single and double respectively.Wysong plated Tofteland with the go-ahead run with a single, and Taylor Graphenteen followed with a two-run single. Nath added an RBI single before the inning was complete, leaving the Cardinals with a 6-2 advantage.T-M-B plated a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-3 game before Luverne capped the scoring with a two-run seventh inning.Boelman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Graphenteen drew a bases-loaded walk to account for Luverne’s counters in the seventh.After T-M-B took a 2-0 lead in the first, Luverne knotted the score in the top of the second.Bruynes plated Luverne’s first run with a sacrifice fly to right field. Wysong tied the game with a RBI single.Nath pitched the first three and two-thirds innings. He yielded two runs without gaining a decision. Wysong picked up the win after pitching three and one-third innings of one-run relief.Box score AB R H BIPick 3 1 1 0Bruynes 5 1 1 1Wysong 5 1 3 2Boelman 3 0 1 1Graphenteen 4 1 2 3Nath 5 0 1 1Herman 2 1 0 0Cote 1 0 1 0Richters 4 0 2 0Tofteland 2 3 1 0