Baseball Recap: Pine Island Turns Things Around After Road Loss

There's no place like home for Pine Island, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Thursday. They blew past the Dover-Eyota Eagles 11-1 on Friday. For the Panthers, this counts as revenge for the 5-4 win the Eagles walked away with the last time they faced one another back in May of 2023.

Luke Sems made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over six innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits (and not a single walk). Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one double.

Nick Thein

Hits (Career)

04/04/25 vs Dover-Eyota	3
05/22/24 vs St. Charles	2
06/01/24 @ La Crescent	1
05/27/24 vs Cannon Falls	1
05/25/24 vs Randolph	1

In other batting news, Pine Island let Landon Lowrie and Nick Thein run wild. Lowrie scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-2, while Thein scored a run and stole two bases while going 3-for-4. Those three hits gave Thein a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Grabau, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.

Pine Island was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .414. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Dover-Eyota only posted a batting average of .136.

The victory got Pine Island back to even at 1-1. As for Dover-Eyota, their defeat dropped their record down to an identical 1-1.

Pine Island and Dover-Eyota will both get their first taste of in-conference action in their upcoming games. The Panthers are set to face off against their familiar foe Lake City at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Meanwhile, Dover-Eyota will take on rival Wabasha-Kellogg at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.