Austin pitcher Chris Pack made a name for himself and his fastball in Minnesota Amateur Baseball by helping lead the Class B Greyhounds to the finals of the state tournament last year. Friday night Pack changed the pace.

With a sharp slider and an effective splitfinger fastball, Pack fired a five-hit shutout that included 17 strikeouts in a 5-0 win for the fourth-rated Greyhounds over the second-ranked Mankato Twins at Marcusen Park in Austin.

"The slider was the best it's been all year," Pack said. "I probably got 10 strikeouts with it. The fastball was good enough to get strikes, and I got three outs with the splitty, but once I got the slider going I really didn't need it."

The Greyhounds (27-14, 7-3) handed Pack a 3-0 lead to work with through the first inning after avoiding a minor threat from Mankato in the top half. The Twins got two of their five singles in the first frame, but leadoff hitter John Landkamer would be the only Mankato player to touch second base.

Early edge

Austin tried manufacturing its first run off starter Tom Steirlen, who went six innings in the eventual loss. Mitch Mullenbach led off with a single, stole second, and took third on an errant pickoff attempt. 'Hounds player/coach Joe Serratore walked after battling Steirlen for at least 10 pitches, but a double steal caught Mullenbach at the plate.

With Serratore now on second, Craig Selk singled him home with a line-drive to right, and Nick Rohne followed with a single. Matt Raso's single to left scored Selk, and Nick Dolan -- courtesy running for Rohne -- advanced to third on a wild throw from the outfield. Dolan later scored on a wild pitch.

"A three-run lead with wooden bats is like a 10-run lead last year, especially with Pack pitching," Serratore said between innings.

Ownership

No kidding. Only Jay Nessler, who had three of the Twins' four hits, appeared to have a chance against Pack.

"I was just looking to throw strikes," Pack said. "The biggest thing with wooden bats is to throw strikes. I kept it down pretty well tonight, probably the best I have all year."

Landkamer was the only player Pack faced that did not strike out at least once. Pack retired Nessler on strikes with a filthy slider in the top of the sixth.

"The one time I got him, that was probably the toughest slider I threw all night," Pack said.

Pack struck out 13 of 15 batters spanning the third through eighth innings, including six-in-a-row to start the sequence.

"The slider was nasty, that was his strikeout pitch tonight," said Rohne, the Greyhounds catcher.

Digging for three

Tim Kaplan surged Austin's lead to 5-0 with a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth. Dave Meyer walked to lead off and John Frein continued his hot hitting with a single through the left side.

One out later, Kaplan got into an outside fastball and drove it over the center fielder's head. Frein read the line-drive to straight-away center and was two strides behind Meyer rounding the bases, and both scored without a throw. The relay caught Kaplan digging for his first triple of the season.

Mullenbach, Rohne and Raso each had two of Austin's nine hits in the game.

Royals rematch

Meyer will get the start when the Greyhounds visit Mayo Field and the Rochester Royals at 6 p.m. Sunday night for a rematch. The Royals took a 3-1 win in the teams' first meeting July 7 in Austin.

"We outplayed them the first time, we just lost," Pack said.

The Greyhounds have a busy week before Section 2B playoffs begin July 30. Austin plays at Minnetonka on Tuesday, and follows up with home games Wednesday through Saturday.

Boxscore:

GREYHOUNDS 5, TWINS 0

MankatoAustin

abrhbiabrhbi

Lndkmr ss4010Mllnbch 2b4020

Ahern cf4000Kaplan 1b4012

Nessler 3b4030Serratore cf2100

Fritz lf4000 Dolan cf1100

Roehl 2b4000Selk lf4111

Pringle 1b2000Rohne c3020

Mulvihill 1b1000Raso 3b4021

Ojanpa dh3000Swank dh3000

Steirlen p0000 Pack p0000

Kern p0000Meyer rf2100

Hove c3010Frein ss2110

Kapsner rf3000

Totals32050Totals29594

Mankato000000000--052

Austin30002000x--590

E -- Steirlen, Fritz. Team LOB -- Mankato 5, Austin 6. 2B -- Kaplan. SB -- Mullenbach, Serratore.

IPHRERBBSO

Mankato

Steirlen, L685423

Kern210012

Austin

Pack, W9500017

WP -- Steirlen. HBP -- Rohne (by Kern).

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :mailto:sports@austindailyherald.com.