Great starts really haven’t been the Seneca baseball team’s thing this early spring, as the Fighting Irish have lost seven of their first eight games this season.

But they used a couple of great starts – a four-run home half of the first and five shutout innings on the mound from Cam Shriey – Saturday morning to win their third straight ballgame, 7-2 over the visiting Serena Huskers.

“The dugout is amazing, our teammates cheering us all on,” said Seneca first baseman and No. 7 hitter Grady Hall, who squeezed in a run during that four-run first and finished 2 for 2 on a day the Irish managed more runs (seven) than hits (six). “It’s given us so much momentum in the games we’ve won lately.

“Our pitching staff has been really great, Joey [Arnold, the team’s catcher] has been amazing with the pitchers, and we’ve really been consistent with our hitting too. It’s been great.”

The nonconference decision, Seneca’s third consecutive victory, lifts the Irish to 4-7 on the spring.

Serena falls to 4-3.

“Walks and errors will kill you,” Huskers coach Jeremy Foreman said after his team issued six walks, hit three Seneca batters and committed four errors Saturday. “That’s kind of been our Achilles’ this season, and walking guys, hitting guys, not making plays, that was kind of the story.”

Shriey for the most part mowed through the Huskers’ order, striking out the side in the top of the first, immediately getting the aforementioned four-run cushion and then being even more aggressive in the strike zone with the comfortable cushion. Shriey finished throwing five scoreless innings, allowing just two infield hits and walking none while striking out 10.

“I felt really good before [the game], throwing lots of strikes in the bullpen,” Shriey said. “My fastball was definitely the best it’s looked all season so far. I still have to work on my offspeed, get that a little more consistent, but that’s about it.”

Vinny Corrado came on in relief of Shriey and struggled with his control over 1⅔ innings, enough in fact that when Wyatt Holman relieved Corrado with the bases loaded and notched a three-pitch strikeout to end the Serena threat, Holman earned a save in the five-run win.

Ethan Stark and Payton Twait managed Serena’s lone hits – both of the infield variety – in support of starting and losing pitcher Twait (2⅓ IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 K) and extremely effective reliever Ian Watkins (3⅔ IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K). Wesley Hendricks and Nate Kelley were credited with runs batted in thanks to a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and walk, respectively, in the final inning.

“Ian did a really nice job – threw strikes, kept guys off base and gave us a chance," Foreman said. “We had a chance there in the seventh with the bases loaded, but just couldn’t scratch them across.

“Credit their guy [Shriey] at the beginning. He did a great job.”

Both Hall and Jace Mitchell finished with two hits and a first-inning RBI for Seneca. Joey Arnold added a hit and two runs scored, with additional RBIs recorded by Griffin Hougas and Shriey.

The Irish will look to keep this week’s momentum going into next week and, if it keeps carrying over, the rest of the season.

“Pitching today was limited,” Seneca coach Tim Brungard said, “and we had to have Cam do exactly what he did. Wyatt came in and got the save on three pitches ... and we had some great situational hitting, baseran very well and played very good defense.

“Three in a row feels really good after the start to our season and how that went.”