The Austin Greyhounds stayed alive in the Section 2B race with a 9-5 win over the Royals in Rochester Saturday.

Rochester loaded the bases in the ninth inning with one out, but couldn’t score a run as Austin’s Dave Meyer closed it out.

“The wind was blowing out, so they could’ve gotten right back in it pretty easily,” Hounds manager John Frein said. “There wasn’t much room for error.”

The Hounds took a 6-1 lead in the third after Tyler Leopold hit a two-out, two-run homer.

Nick Rohne hit a first inning homer for the Hounds.

“We were in control offensively and we had momentum the whole game,” Frein said.

John Kirby pitched the first five innings to pick up the win for the Hounds.

“John is a talented kid. He’s got a great arm and he throws hard,” Frein said. “He’s one of our aces in the hole and he’s going to see a lot more time on the mound now that the Legion season is over.”

The Hounds (12-14 overall, 1-2 Section 2B) need the Blue Sox to fall to Rochester (1-2 Section 2B) on Wednesday if they want to chance to force a three-way tie in the section when they play the Blue Sox Thursday. If the Blue Sox beat the Royals, the clinch the top seed in Section 2B and would receive a first round bye in the playoffs.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

Hounds 1 0 5 0 0 1 0 1 1 9 14 3

Royals 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 5 10 0

Hounds pitching: John Kirby (W), 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 HBP; Dave Meyer, 4 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 HBP

Hounds hitting: Mitch Mullenbach, 2-for-4, R, BB; Nick Rohne, 2-for-2, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 BB; Craig Braaten, 2-for-4, double, 2 RBIs, 2 R, BB; Matt Cano, 0-for-5, RBI; Matt Raso, 3-for-5, double, 2 R; Tyler Leopold, 2-for-5, HR, double, 2 RBIs, R; Tim Kaplan, 1-for-5, RBI; Mitch Kaplan, 1-for-4, R; John Frein, 1-for-5, double, R