BURIEN, Washington – The Spartan varsity baseball team won a run-differential shortened game against the Ingraham Rams, 13-3, in six innings Wednesday, May 3, at Steve Cox Memorial Park, their first outing of the postseason.

The quarterfinal matchup of the Metro League Championship Tournament pitted Bainbridge, the No. 2 seed, against the No. 10 seed.

James McMurray started on the mound for the Spartans, pitching four solid innings before Garrett Aichele came in to shut out Ingraham over the final two frames.

The Rams did all of their scoring in the fourth, as they rallied to within two runs of the Spartans, but Bainbridge scored in every inning after the first.

The offensive attack included two home runs, a solo shot by Brooks Wallace to get the scoring started in the second and a two-run homer by Brooks Lierle later in the game.

Lierle had three hits on the night, while Ethan Schulte got on base all five times he was at the plate, producing four hits plus a base on balls.

The Spartans then moved on to the semi-finals Saturday in the double-elimination tournament, when they will face Eastside Catholic, again at Steve Cox Field.

Four teams from Metro receive automatic bids to the state tournament this year, which begins May 20, while a fifth team can qualify if they’re victorious in a play-in game on May 13.