Aaron Hunter was the right guy at the right time for Linn-Mar on Thursday night.

Hunter's bases-loaded double in the top of the sixth inning plated two runs, erased a one-run deficit and sent the Lions past Jefferson, 5-3, at the J-Hawks baseball field.

The win was the third of the week for Linn-Mar (10-6) against the J-Hawks (5-11). The Lions swept a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader from Jefferson, 3-1 and 8-7 in 10 innings, Monday at Linn-Mar. Thursday's game was a nonconference tilt set up because both teams had a pair of games rained out in the season-opening Bob Vrbicek Metro Tournament.

Hunter said the intensity may not have been at the same level as the conference games, but getting a win was still important.

"It affects (the intensity) a little bit, but we still have to get the win to get points for seeding at substate," said Hunter, a senior outfielder. "Every point makes a difference."

Linn-Mar picked up four points for the win. The points decide the seedings for next month's substate tournaments.

"We treated it like any other nonconference game," Linn-Mar Coach Chad Lechner said. "We didn't want to put any more pressure on it. We just wanted to come out and see what happened."

Linn-Mar trailed 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning when Christian Knox came on in relief for the J-Hawks. A hit batsman, walk, sacrifice bunt, and walk loaded the bases for Hunter, the Lions' leadoff batter. He fell behind in the count, no balls and two strikes, then got a curveball that hung over the middle of the plate. He smoked it over the head of Jefferson left fielder Jake Schmidt.

"I'm thinking I got to protect the plate. Anything close and I just have to get good barrel on the ball," Hunter said. "They'd been throwing me a lot of curveballs, so I was looking off-speed and I got it.

"We're getting a lot of good pitching and we're doing enough at the plate to get wins."

Linn-Mar had seven hits to 11 for the J-Hawks. Five of Linn-Mar's hits were for extra bases. Jordan Stroschein had a pair of doubles and an RBI, and Ben Larison and Jeremy Danover hit solo home runs.

The Lions also got some clutch pitching from starter Nate Johnson and reliever Casey Brown. Johnson worked three batters into the fifth inning and was lifted after surrendering an RBI single to Alex Larson that tied the game. Brown came on and gave up an RBI double to Jordan McCormick that put the J-Hawks ahead, 3-2. He got a huge lift when the next batter, Drew Striegel hit a fly ball to medium center field and Larson, tagging up at third base, was thrown out at the plate.

"I thought Nate Johnson Casey Brown did a nice job on the mound," Lechner said. "That was the key tonight, to keep their bats under control because they can come out at any time and score 10 runs in a hurry. I thought those guys did a nice job keeping us in the game."

The loss was Jefferson's fourth straight and seventh in eight games. Four of the losses have been by two runs or less.

"I know we really wanted that one because of what happened on Monday," said McCormick, who pitched the first five innings for the J-Hawks and allowed five hits and two runs. McCormick also had two hits and drove in two runs. "I think we're starting to hit. We had 11 hits tonight. That's good to see.

"We just have to keep playing hard, stay after practice and take extra cuts, and cut down on our errors."

Jefferson hosts Dubuque Wahlert in a doubleheader Friday. The Golden Eagles went in to Thursday night's doubleheader at Prairie tied with Kennedy for the top spot in the Mississippi Division.

"We have to do the little things right for seven innings," Jefferson Coach Mike Kuba said. "We have to execute flawlessly. We have to have our pitchers come in and keep the ball down low because they are a power-hitting team."

Linn-Mar plays a doubleheader at Prairie on Friday.

Jefferson won the JV game, 8-6.

LINN-MAR (5)
Aaron Hunter, lf-cf, 5 0 1 2, Ben Larison, ss, 3 2 2 1, Michael Redmond, cf, 1 0 0 0, Kevin Bogert, lf-rf, 3 0 1 0, Jordan Stroschein, rf-p, 4 0 2 1, Jeremy Danover, c, 4 1 1 1, Ryan Sturenfeldt, cr, 0 0 0 0, Corey Prokop, 3b, 2 1 0 0, Keaton Blackford, dh, 2 1 0 0, Nate Johnson, p, 0 0 0 0, Casey Brown, p, 0 0 0 0, Mitch Stickney, lf, 0 0 0 0, Travis Kvach, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Jake Stolley, 1b, 2 0 0 0. Totals 27 5 7 5.

JEFFERSON (3)
Tanner Unkel, 2b, 3 2 2 0, Michael Rooney, cf, 4 1 2 0, Alex Larson, 3b, 4 0 2 1, Jordan McCormick, p-1b, 4 0 2 2, Drake Vanous, cr, 0 0 0 0, Drew Striegel, c, 3 0 1 0, Jordan Dee, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Christian Knox, p, 0 0 0 0, Colten Jourdan, p, 0 0 0 0, Bailey Hollingsworth, rf, 3 0 0 0, Jake Schmidt, lf, 3 0 1 0, Ky Kramer, ss, 3 0 0 0. Totals 30 3 11 3.

Linn-Mar     100 012 1 - 5   7 2
Jefferson    001 020 0 - 3 11 1

Johnson, Brown (5), J.Stroschein (7) and Danover. McCormick, Knox (6), Jourdan (6) and Striegel. W-Brown. L-Knox. Sv-J.Stroschein. 2B-Hunter, J.Stroschein 2, Unkel, McCormick, Striegel. HR-Larison, Danover.