GILMAN — Connor Kriegel was locked in for East Marshall baseball on Thursday.

The Mustang senior only needed three runs in the first inning to guide East Marshall to a 3-0 win over Grundy Center in Gilman.

“I had some velocity on my fastball tonight and any pitch I got a sign for, I could pretty much hit that spot tonight,” Kriegel said. “Everything was working.”

Kriegel scattered three hits with three strikeouts and two walks in a complete-game shutout for his first win of the season, and East Marshall improved to 4-4 overall.

“He got ahead of the count for the most part,” East Marshall head coach Justin Frost said. “And when he got down 2-0 he always managed to fight his way back. We’ve been waiting to see that from him, we know he’s capable of it.”

Kriegel helped himself at the plate with the first of two run-scoring singles from the Mustangs in the first inning. Kriegel brought home Jacob Farrington and Xavier Slifer singled Kaleb Grant home. East Marshall added a run on a ball to the backstop.

The Mustangs threatened often after the first inning, including loading the bases in the third inning, but couldn’t scratch another one across after the opening spurt.

“I thought we could get a few more, but Grundy played solid defense there,” Frost said. “The big one was Kriegel getting that first run.”

That early lead allowed Kriegel to better focus on his game on the rubber, including letting his defense make plays behind him — the Mustangs turned a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the fifth inning and retired the next six Spartans in order to clinch the win.

“We’ve got a great team this year and I had no doubt in my mind that plays would be made,” Kriegel said. “There were some nerves going into the seventh, but also a lot of adrenaline knowing we just needed three quick outs. … We pulled a great one today.”

All four Grundy baserunners left on base on Thursday were left in scoring position and the Spartans also had a costly baserunning mistake in the fourth inning.

“They were ready to play and we weren’t,” Grundy Center head coach Pat Brown Jr. said. “We can’t give up those runs in the first inning.”

After the first inning, Brayden Davie and the Spartan defense played well, and Judd Jirovsky pitched a scoreless inning of relief with two strikeouts in the sixth.

“Those guys and our defense made plays, but we didn’t make the plays when it mattered,” Brown Jr. said. “Every play matters.”

Brown Jr. noted that, after an overlap with spring sports left some players unavailable due to deep postseason runs, the Spartans will have its first full team practice on Friday.

Grundy made plenty of contact, but didn’t find the gaps on Thursday. The Spartans (3-3) head to Dike-New Hartford on Monday.

“I’ll give credit to our guys that they were aggressive and not taking a lot of called strike threes, but in the same token, we’ve got to be more patient and swing at good pitches,” Brown Jr. added, “we need more line drives, hard-hit balls.”

East Marshall is back in Gilman on Friday, welcoming Benton to town.

“We’re feeling good,” Kriegel said. “This one really gave us a boost of confidence that we needed and we hope we can keep it rolling.”