STEUBENVILLE – AJ Borsch powered the Steubenville baseball team to a big win against Dover as Nick Lovato put out the fire.

Borsch earned the win on the mound for Big Red as he struck out six in 6 1/3 innings of work, while also recording a single, a double and two RBI at the plate leading Big Red to a 3-2 victory against the Crimson Tornadoes on an overcast Friday evening up at the Crimson Complex.

“It was a heck of a high school baseball game,” first-year Big Red (6-2) head coach Justin Banks said. “It came down to the wire.”

Big Red led 3-2 going into the top of the seventh, and Borsch recorded the first out on a pop-up to first, however, Dover did not go down without a fight. Borsch hit the next batter with a pitch, and Liam Mast singled for the second time in the game to put two runners on.

At that point, Banks made the call down to the bullpen, and Lovato came into pitch. Lovato retired the first batter he faced on a flyout to center before striking out Cam Nauer looking to end the game.

“Nicky came in and did what we asked,” Banks said. “He shut them down. He threw strikes, and he was able to get us out of it.”

Lovato finished what Borsch started. Borsch limited the visitors to one run on five hits while walking one.

“AJ started on short rest,” Banks said. “He stepped in for an injury. We got 6 1/3 innings out of him. He did what we asked.”

Borsch brought home the second and third runs for Big Red as the sophomore singled home a run in the first before delivering an RBI double in the third.

The hosts collected two runs in the first to take the early lead.

“We talked before the game about coming out and scoring early,” Banks said. “We wanted to jump on them. We wanted to get an early advantage, and we scored two runs in the first.”

Royal Mayo led off the first with a single, and the shortstop stole second to move into scoring position. Cole Bowers followed with a sacrifice bunt, and Matt Fabbro singled scoring Mayo with the first run to give the boys in black a 1-0 lead. Nolan Blackburn collected a base hit allowing Fabbro to advance to third before the second baseman scored on a single to center by Borsch to increase Big Red’s advantage to 2-0.

“We played some small ball,” Banks said. “You do whatever you have to do to score runs. We had some quality at-bats. We got the bunt down when we needed to.”

Dover (4-5) was able to get out of the first without allowing any more damage as a strikeout and a groundout sent the two team’s back to the dugout.

Big Red extended their advantage in the third. Blackburn walked with one out, and he moved up to second on a passed ball before scoring on Borsch’s double to right to make the score 3-0, however, Borsch was thrown out at third trying to stretch his double into a triple. The inning ended on a groundout.

The visitors from Tuscarawas County tried to comeback, but Borsch and Lovato were able to extinguish the flames.

Jacob Noretto took the loss for the Tornadoes as the sophomore went the distance striking out five while walking one.

Dover got a run back in the fifth. Kale Oswald led off the inning by reaching on an infield single, and he advanced to second and third on passed balls before scoring when Jack Judkins reached on an error to pull the Tornadoes to within 3-1. The visitors had a runner on base, but Borsch retired the next three batters on a flyout and two groundouts to get out of the inning with allowing anymore runs.

The boys in the crimson jerseys continued to chip away at their deficit in the sixth. Borsch retired the first batter on a groundout before Gavin Vanhorn reached on an error. The right fielder then stole second base before scoring on a single to left by Noretto to make it a 3-2 ballgame. The throw came up short, and Noretto took second on the play. Dover had a runner in scoring position, but Borsch slammed the door shut thanks to a strikeout and a groundout.

Mason Chmielorski also singled in the game for the locals.

After falling to Indian Creek on Good Friday, Big Red picked up three wins this week with the victories coming against Weir, St. Clairsville and Dover. The Tornadoes have now lost four-straight games to drop below .500 on the season. Dover lost to Carrollton and were swept in a doubleheader by New Philadelphia before losing to Big Red.

Big Red is scheduled to play rival Brooke at 5 p.m. Monday on the road.

Dover is slated to play Massillon at 5 p.m. Monday on the road.

Big Red 3, Dover 2

Dover 000 011 0 – 2 5 0

Big Red 201 000 X – 3 6 3

DOVER (4-5): Noretto LP (5K, 1BB) and B. Mast and Bergeron (4). Judkins S, RBI; L. Mast 2S; Noretto S, RBI; Oswald S.

BIG RED (6-2): Borsch WP (6 1/3IP, 6K, 1BB), Lovato (2/3IP, 1K, 0BB) and Simmons. Mayo S; Fabbro S, RBI; Blackburn S; Borsch S, D, 2RBI; Chmielorski S.