STANTON — L’Anse salvaged a split of a high school baseball doubleheader with Houghton on Monday afternoon at the Gremlins’ home field.

The Purple Hornets hit their way to a 5-3 victory in the nightcap after dropping the opener 10-1.

In the opener, hits by Will Romano and Kevin Bostwick led to three Houghton runs in the third inning, while a plague of errors helped the Gremlins get four more in the fourth.

“We played very lax today,” L’Anse manager Chad Cichosz told the Daily Mining Gazette of Houghton. “We weren’t able to get a practice in over the weekend and it showed. You cannot win games by giving the other team four and five outs.”

Houghton also helped its cause with the pitching of freshman Cade Ferrell, who struck out eight in his complete-game victory, commanding a fastball and curve.

L’Anse scored its lone run of the opener in the fourth after hits by Tanner Lane and Terry Reid.

In the second game, Houghton jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning before the Hornets rallied in the fifth for all five runs on four hits, all occurring with two outs.

Alex Kissel and Alec Rajala each laced doubles while Jake Haanpaa and Reese Waara both had singles in the rally.

“Timely hitting was key for us in that second game,” Cichosz said.