The Prairie Hawks and Linn-Mar Lions both hope to have strong baseball teams this season, but right now both of them are simply trying to get a little momentum going and get rolling.

They faced each other Friday night and split their Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill at Prairie.

Linn-Mar won the first game, 7-2. Prairie grabbed the nightcap, 8-2.

A key two-out, two-run single by Jimmy Roth in the first inning got the Lions off to a quick start in the opener.

“Our hitting has started off slow so far this season, so it was good to get on the board right away,” said Roth.  “Scoring early puts pressure on their defense and it helps our pitcher.”

Austin Stroschein was dominant on the mound for the Lions (6-7, 3-3), giving up just three hits while striking out eight.

“I just tried to work ahead and get a lot of first-pitch strikes,” said Stroschein. “Our offense was clicking tonight and the runs take the edge off and make it easier to work on the mound.”

Stroschein is a senior with plenty of experience.

“Stroschein had good stuff tonight,” said Prairie Coach Matt Thede.  “He worked ahead and located his pitches. He was tough to hit.”

Jack Strellner, Mitch Stickney, Stroschein and Roth had two hits to pace the Linn-Mar offense.

In game two, the Hawks capitalized on 10 hits and five Linn-Mar errors to gain the 8-2 victory.

“I think the difference between the first game and the second was that Stroschein prepared us for (Justin) Wyant,” said Thede. “When you see good pitchers two games in a row it helps your timing as the games play out. We stayed on the ball much better in game two.”

Ty Mougin led the way for Prairie in the nightcap by going 3-4. He scored two runs and drove in two runs.

Tyler Votroubek, Tyler Butz and Mitch Peters added a pair of hits for Prairie (8-5, 4-2).

“I had been struggling a bit and so I just let the ball get a little deeper and tried to take it the other way tonight and it worked out well for me,” said Mougin. “We were a little sluggish in that first game and we played the second one with more focus.”

Mitch Adams threw a gem for Prairie in the second game, scattering six hits while striking out five in six innings.

“I am so happy that I get to come out here once or twice a week and just try to do my job,” said Adams. “The curve was really working for me tonight and that really helped.

"I am not really a strikeout kind of pitcher, I just like to make them hit the ball to the defense.”

Linn-Mar Coach Chad Lechner was not entirely happy with his team's work in the field.

“I thought our defense would be a little further along than it is at this time,” he said.  “Give Prairie credit, they are a good team and they took advantage of us in that second game.”

Linn-Mar hosts its own tournament Saturday and meets Muscatine at 10 a.m. Ankeny faces Fort Madison at noon. The third-place game is scheduled at 2 p.m. and the finals at 4 p.m.

GAME 1

LINN-MAR (7): Mortensen, cf, 5 0 1 0, Strellner, ss, 5 2 2 0, Stickney, rf, 3 2 2 0, Stroschein, p, 3 0 2 1, Reimer, cr, 0 3 0 0, Roth, 2b, 4 0 2 2, Banks, 3b, 2 0 1 2, Ollinger c, 3 0 0 1, Kane, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Redmond, pr, 0 0 0 0, Larson lf, 3 0 0 0. Totals 31 7 11 6.

PRAIRIE (2): T.Mougin, ss, 3 0 1 0, Hammer, rf, 3 0 1 1, Davison, lf, 3 0 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 3 1 1 0, Butz, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Stallman, cf, 3 0 0 0, Peters, rf, 3 0 0 1, Dean, p, 0 0 0 0, Milks, p, 0 0 0 0, N.Mougin, c, 2 0 0 0, Becker, ph, 1 0 0 0, Digman, 3b, 3 1 0 0. Totals 27 2 3 2.

Linn-Mar    200 023 0 - 7 11 3
Prairie        010 010 0 - 2 3 2

Stroschein and Ollinger. Dean, Milks (4), Kilpatrick (5), Votroubek (6) and N.Mougin. W - Stroschein. L - Dean. 2B - Roth. SB - Strellner, Reimer, Stallman.

GAME 2

LINN-MAR (2): Mortensen, cf, 3 1 1 0, Strellner, ss, 4 0 2 0, Stickney, rf/p, 3 0 1 1, Stroschein, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Roth, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Banks, 3b, 2 1 0 0, Ollinger c, 3 0 2 0, Jennings, lf, 3 0 0 0, Wyant, p, 2 0 0 0, McCullough, p, 0 0 0 0, Bettmann, rf, 0 0 0 0, Reimer, ph, 0 0 0 0. Totals 26 2 6 1.

PRAIRIE (8): T.Mougin, ss, 4 2 3 2, Hammer, rf/p, 2 0 0 0, Davison, lf, 3 0 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 4 0 2 1, Benson, pr, 0 1 0 0, Butz, dh, 3 2 2 0, Adams, p, 0 0 0 0, Peters, rf, 3 2 1 1, Stallman, cf, 3 0 1 1, Day, c, 2 0 0 0, Meyer, cr, 0 1 0 0, Becker, 2b, 2 0 0 0. Totals 26 8 9 5.

Linn-Mar   001 001 0 - 2 6 5
Prairie       020 042 x - 8 9 0

Wyant, McCullough (5), Stickney (6) and Ollinger. Adams, Hammer (7) and Day. W - Adams. L - Wyant. 2B - Ollinger. SB - T.Mougin.