The Powell Pioneers and Lovell Mustangs split their matchups during an early season doubleheader Thursday in Lovell, as the Pioneers won the first contest 6-5 before Lovell won the second game 8-5.

POWELL 6, LOVELL 5

Getting in an early season matchup with a ‘A’ West opponent, the Pioneers (6-4) and Mustangs (4-5) were hoping to learn about each other before the season kicks into full gear.

Powell got on the board first, as Ben Ostermiller led off with a single and stole second to get in scoring position.

Ryan Barrus singled to score him, and Powell led 1-0.

Lovell answered in the bottom of the first, getting on through an error and stealing second before a single scored the run and the game was tied 1-1 after the first inning.

In the second, Abel Teten walked and Ostermiller singled to advance Teten to third.

Ostermiller advanced to second while Teten stole home, before Talon Nuss singled and scored Ostermiller to make it 3-1 after the second.

Powell left runners stranded in the third, before Lovell found an answer to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth.

Two straight doubles scored one run, before a steal coupled with an error on a bunt scored another run and tied the score 3-3 after the fourth.

The Pioneers regained the lead in the fifth, starting with a Cole Fauskee double with two outs.

Trevion Solberg scored him on a single and Powell led 4-3 after the fifth.

The Pioneers added insurance in the sixth, starting with a Nuss single and a Barrus walk to put two on with one out.

Caden Diaz tripled and scored both runners, giving Powell a 6-3 lead after six innings.

Lovell threatened with a comeback late, starting a rally with two outs via two singles and a double to score two runs, but after a hit batter the Pioneers got the final out and finished with the 6-5 win.

Diaz led at the plate going 3-4 with two RBIs, while Ostermiller threw five innings, giving up three hits, two earned runs with eight strikeouts and no walks.

“Ben threw well,” manager Jason Borders said. “For a 16-year-old he’s right where we want him to be.”

LOVELL 8, POWELL 5

After the initial win the Pioneers got off to a slower start than the first matchup as the Mustangs got things rolling early.

A two out single followed by two doubles and another single scored four runs for the hosts, putting Powell in a 4-0 deficit after the first.

Powell got one back in the second when Diaz tripled to lead off and scored on a one out triple by Solberg, but the Pioneers were unable to do more damage and trailed 4-1.

The Pioneers found more offense in the third, starting with a one out walk to Ostermiller.

He advanced to second on a wild pitch before Barrus brought him home on a single.

Barrus advanced to second on a wild pitch before Diaz singled to bring him home and make it 4-3 after the third inning.

Neither team got a baserunner in the fourth, before Lovell extended its advantage in the fifth.

After one out, the Mustangs got runners via a single, error and walk to load the bases.

A wild pitch and a passed ball scored three runs for the Mustangs, extending the lead to 7-3 after the fifth.

Powell had the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, but was unable to bring anyone home before Lovell added one more insurance run.

“We’ve talked about it a lot at practice,” Borders said. “We’re working on bunting a lot right now. There’s no way we should leave runners stranded at second and third. We don’t have the guys that are going to hit a three run bomb. We don’t have those kinds of hitters and that’s fine. We have to do the little things to score one or two runs.”

A walk put a Lovell runner on before he advanced on a passed ball. A single scored the runner who had advanced to third on a ground out and made it 8-3 heading into the seventh.

Powell got runners on in the seventh, starting with walks to Rowan Diaz and Ostermiller before Nuss was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

A line out got the first out, before Rowan Diaz scored on a wild pitch.

Caden Diaz walked, and Ostermiller scored on a wild pitch before the game ended on strikeouts as Powell fell 8-5.

Caden Diaz led again at the plate going 2-2 with one RBI as the Pioneers only mustered four hits in the game.

HOME GAMES SUNDAY

Powell returns home for the next two weekends, starting with a doubleheader Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. against Gallatin Valley (0-6).

Borders said despite the winless record by the Outlaws, he expects a tough opponent due to their competition level and past success.

“They went to the regional last year. That’s how good that team is,” Borders said. “I guarantee they’ll be pretty good when they come to see us, they’ll be one of the better teams we’ve seen so far.”

To prepare for the difficult opponent, Borders is hopeful the Pioneers will be able to get outside with nicer weather the rest of the week.

“We’ve just gotta clean stuff up,” Borders said. “We’ve had too much time in between games and bad weather … We aren’t getting a lot of time on the field which we need.”