Sam Greazel, Aiden Holmgren

DES MOINES — When things aren’t going your way, you’ve got to make the plays to turn the tables.

For the first time in 10 games, the Marshalltown baseball team did exactly that, though it wasn’t without some suspense.

The Bobcats (4-9) got beat on a walk-off in the first game of Monday’s Iowa Alliance Conference doubleheader at Des Moines Lincoln, but they earned the end of their nine-game losing skid with a 9-7 triumph in the nightcap.

The host Railsplitters (2-11) rallied to win the first game with single runs in the sixth and seven innings to overtake MHS for a 4-3 victory, but Marshalltown managed to squash Lincoln’s comeback attempt in the second game.

In the opener, the Bobcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first at-bat, getting singles from Sam Greazel, Zander Stupp and Garrett Thede, and a run-scoring groundout by Madden Martin for the fast start.

Lincoln got back to even with two runs on a two-out single by Chayce Willis in the bottom of the fourth, and the Railsplitters got more clutch hitting down the stretch.

Marshalltown regained its lead, however, in the top of the sixth, as John Schoenfelder reached safely on a dropped third strike, advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt, and scored on Thede’s subsequent single.

Lincoln starting pitcher Ethan Garcia-Guillen minimized the damage from there, and his team got him the run support he needed.

Michael Estes hit a leadoff triple to start the sixth, scoring two batters later on a sacrifice fly, to tie the score at 3-all.

Connor Pittman’s pinch-hit double led off the bottom of the seventh, and pinch-runner Josiah Swackhamer scored two batters later on Jay Wright’s single to left for the walk-off win.

Stupp took the loss for MHS, allowing two earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four. The Bobcats made four errors and managed just six hits against Garcia-Guillen, who walked none and struck out 11 for the complete-game victory.

Greazel was 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and a run scored, and Thede was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

“We jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 and Stupp gave us a chance to win,” said MHS head coach Colton Hanke. “However, our early lead wasn’t enough and Lincoln kept battling back.

“In Game 2, we got over the hump as we scored throughout and our pitchers were able to minimize the damage when they entered the game.”

The Bobcats mustered up just four hits in the second game of the twinbill, but it proved to be enough to rack up more runs than in any game since the opening night of the season. Marshalltown cashed in on eight walks and four hit batters to push across nine runs, and the pitching staff held on to make a 9-3 lead stand up in the bottom of the seventh.

Aiden Holmgren couldn’t stifle the bases-loaded situation he inherited in the seventh, but he limited any further damage to earn the save. Lincoln loaded the bases against Larrs Schoenfelder, chasing him from the mound with a bases-loaded walk, but Holmgren got a strikeout and a fielder’s choice grounder for the first two outs of the seventh.

Caleb Campbell kept the inning alive with an RBI double, and Wright hit a run-scoring single to make it a one-swing game. With two runners on, Holmgren got Garcia-Guillen — who had homered earlier in the game — to ground out to Tayven Dutton at third base to end it.

Dutton singled twice and scored twice to lead the MHS bats, while Holmgren was 1-for-2 with an RBI double and a bases-loaded walk. Larrs Schoenfelder added an RBI single, while Greazel was hit by pitches three times and scored two runs.

The Bobcats led 6-3 before scoring three times in the top of the seventh, and all the extra offense turned out to be necessary in the end. Stupp, John Schoenfelder and Thede all walked to start the seventh, and all three came around to score. Stupp came plateward on an error, Schoenfelder scored on Holmgren’s walk, and Thede’s courtesy runner Cooper McLeod crossed home plate on a groundout by Wyatt Peters.

Greazel got the win on the mound, giving up two runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batsman while striking out two over 2 2/3 innings. Luke Stalzer allowed one unearned run in 2 1/3 innings while not allowing two of the baserunners he inherited from Greazel to score.

Larrs Schoenfelder also inherited two runners from Stalzer and kept both of them from scoring before exiting with Lincoln rallying in the bottom of the seventh.

Marshalltown will return home for back-to-back doubleheaders on Wednesday and Thursday, hosting Ottumwa and Mason City, respectively, at 5 p.m. both nights.