MARQUETTE - The Marquette Blues finished the Marinette, Wis., Firecracker Tournament with a 3-1 record over a quartet of Wisconsin teams by beating Watertown 11-7 on Sunday.
The Blues jumped out to leads of 4-0 and 9-1 before Watertown made things closer with five runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Marquette's Cody Nordquist hit a two-run homer in the first inning and teammate Spencer Larson also homered with a man aboard in the fifth as the Blues finished with seven extra-base hits.
"I knew we were going to have a good game when that happened," Marquette manager Derek Swajanen said about Larson doubling and Nordquist homering as the game's first two batters. "When those two get going, the whole team follows."
Larson finished 5 for 5 and Nordquist 3 for 4, while Eric Kostreva, Collin O'Neal and Hunter Larson with two hits apiece.
Luke Swajanen started on the mound and got the win, with Ryan Walther pitching the final inning.
"We had a little different line up this game and just like every time we have done it, our younger guys have stepped up and played very well," Swajanen said.
The Blues tied for best record in the tournament field with Green Bay and Marinette, though a runs-against tiebreaker put Marquette third.
"I'm real proud of the boys for how they played this weekend. It's been a long time since we've gone 3-1 and tied for the first in this tournament," Swajanen said.