The Marshalltown baseball team earned its first doubleheader sweep since the last time it faced Des Moines North, but nothing comes easy for the ‘Cats.

Coming off four-straight shutout losses, Marshalltown made enough out of its scoring opportunities and put away the Polar Bears by scores of 9-3 and 7-4 on Monday night at the MHS diamond.

The Bobcats (6-13) got outhit in the opening game, 7-6, but took advantage of 11 total walks issued by Des Moines North pitching to snap a four-game losing streak. Marshalltown pitchers Zander Stupp and Aiden Holmgren combined to allow seven hits and two walks but just one earned run, striking out five to finish off the winless Polar Bears (0-16) in the opener.

In the nightcap, Marshalltown got out to a 6-0 lead after two innings but couldn’t put the finishing touches on the sweep until the very end. North stranded the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning and the Bobcats closed out their first sweep since their May 21 trip to North High School in Des Moines.

Marshalltown swept that twinbill too, but by scores of 19-1 and 21-0.

“We never really got that last nail in the coffin,” said MHS head coach Colton Hanke. “We kind of let off, and Des Moines North is a scrappy team and they’re going to keep finding ways to put pressure on us. They just won’t go down until they go down swinging, so we were just unable to keep the foot on the pedal and that’s just us beating ourselves in those moments.”

The Bobcats never trailed in either game, but neither game was over until the final out was recorded.

The first game was less dramatic than the second. Stupp held North to two runs on five hits over five innings and the Bobcat offense backed him with an 8-2 lead. Holmgren gave up an unearned run in his two innings of relief, but Marshalltown’s advantage was ample by that point.

North pitcher Talon Feldman plunked the first three Bobcat batters in the bottom of the first to help MHS take a 2-0 lead. John Schoenfelder plated the first run with a fielder’s choice grounder, and Garrett Thede followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Bobcats tacked on another run in the third when Stupp singled, took second on a throwing error, advanced to third on Schoenfelder’s single to right, and scored on a passed ball.

Marshalltown made good on its opportunities in the bottom of the fourth, starting with a leadoff walk to Holmgren. Luke Stalzer was hit by a pitch and Sam Greazel slapped a two-run single to left. Larrs Schoenfelder followed with a bunt single, Stupp walked, and Thede was beaned to drive in another run. Tayven Dutton took a base-on-balls, too, to walk home another run for MHS.

Stalzer and Greazel hit back-to-back singles in the fifth, and Larrs Schoenfelder lifted a sacrifice fly to lift the Bobcats to an 8-2 lead.

Holmgren grounded into a bases-loaded double play in the sixth, scoring John Schoenfelder as Marshalltown’s final run.

Greazel finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, while Thede also plated a pair without an official plate appearance. Larrs Schoenfelder and Stalzer both scored twice.

The Bobcats got out to another great start in the second game, scoring twice in the first and four times in the second for a 6-0 lead.

Larrs Schoenfelder’s two-run double to deep center field was the big blow, and Stupp’s subsequent single plated Schoenfelder for the 6-0 advantage.

North wouldn’t go away, though, and the Bobcats couldn’t make them. The Polar Bears picked up two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to fight back to within 7-4, and North left five runners on base over the final two frames.

Larrs Schoenfelder inherited a runner on second in the top of the fifth and got out of that pickle, and he fought through back-to-back singles to lead off the sixth. Schoenfelder got consecutive groundouts to start the seventh, but back-to-back walks prompted Hanke to give Greazel the final out.

However, with a 1-2 count, Greazel plunked Luis Clemente to load the bases, but he wriggled free by striking out Messiah Western to end the game and earn the save.

Holmgren started the second game and pitched two innings for the win, allowing no hits and one walk while striking out three. Stalzer allowed four runs — two earned — on two hits and three total walks over 2 2/3 innings, also striking out three.

“Overall I was really pleased with how we pitched it,” Hanke said. “It was just more about us offensively keeping our foot on the pedal.

“The teeter-totter is on the verge of going towards us or towards North, and have a senior (Greazel) step up in that moment, that’s huge. That was a big, big step going in the right direction for Thursday, for sure.”

Larrs Schoenfelder finished 3-for-4 at the plate in the second game with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs. Seven other Bobcats had one hit apiece: Madden Martin, Greazel, Stupp, Thede, Dutton, Holmgren and Stalzer.

Marshalltown takes to the road on Thursday for an Alliance doubleheader at Des Moines East, starting at 3:30 p.m. at Williams Stadium.