That’s because there were a total of 14 total walks issued during the baseball iteration of the Holy War, as Ursuline outran Cardinal Mooney, 4-1, with a trio of runs coming on miscues in a contest that pushed the 2 1/2-hour mark.

Despite only tallying two hits, it was about finding a way to manufacture runs for Ursuline.

“It’s frustrating at times because we got a lot of guys on the bases, they walked a lot of guys, had a lot of chances,” Ursuline coach Matt Weymer said. “You’re just looking for that one big hit. We tell our guys, a guy on third base less than two outs, just a ground ball, a flyball, something.

“It’s all about execution with offense. We’re not a team that’s going to hit nine or 10 balls in the gap, so when we get guys on third base with less than two outs, we’ve got to get a bunt down, we really have to execute. We’re still figuring that part out, but to win a game and kinda maybe get a little lucky, you feel pretty good about it.”

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Ursuline sophomore Drew Kirila crosses homeplate midway through Tuesday’s contest against Cardinal Mooney.

The Fighting Irish found the scoreboard twice during the top half of the first inning, with senior Dante Walker grounding out to first, scoring fellow senior Jonah Kirchner. Sophomore Luca Ricchiuti crossed home plate due to a wild pitch moments later, giving Ursuline an early 2-0 edge.

Meanwhile, Kirchner went to work on the mound, fanning five hitters over four innings of work. He allowed Mooney to score one run on an RBI knock to right field by senior Ian Francis, bringing home sophomore Logan Boyd.

“You know what, I thought it was a chess match, ” said Kirchner, the winning pitcher. “Battling every play, I wasn’t at my full capability today, but I trusted my guys and I know they got it.”

“It tastes really sweet,” he said about earning a win in the Holy War.

Ursuline (4-6) scored twice more in the top of the fifth, with sophomore Drew Kirila and Walker finding home on a wild pitch.

With the afternoon sun slowly giving way to dusk, arguably the biggest moment of the game occurred in the bottom of the sixth.

Ursuline’s Brady Shannon stood on the mound with the bases loaded and two outs. Boyd lined the ball directly back at Shannon and, with cat-like reflexes, Shannon caught the ball, reacting with enthusiasm as he walked toward the third-base dugout.

“It’s a rivalry game, so we’re always a little edgy, a little pumped up more in these kind of games,” Shannon said. “So, I mean, it’s just the energy that comes with it.

“We didn’t hit that well today, but it just comes down to whoever makes the less mistakes and, obviously, we didn’t walk that many guys or make any errors, so it was good.”

Shannon allowed four hits over three frames, but recorded six Ks.

For Mooney (3-2) coach Al Franceschelli, it wasn’t the most well-played game, especially after allowing 11 walks.

“Well, I think it’s pretty self-evident,” he said. “We didn’t coach well, we obviously didn’t play well, it just didn’t seem like we were on the field sometimes. For a game of this enormity, we should have played better, we’re a really good team, but, the way we played tonight, you wouldn’t know it.”

Mooney junior Cole Litman took the loss, giving up two runs over 3 2/3 innings, while recording a strikeout. Senior Ethan Shaw, a Gardner-Webb commit, came on in relief, pitching the final 3 1/3 innings, fanning four hitters but giving up a pair of runs.

Boyd had the only multi-hit performance of the contest, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

After dropping the last two contests to Hubbard and Boardman, Tuesday’s win gives Ursuline the opportunity to regain some steam going into today’s matchup versus Salem. Cardinal Mooney is also back in action today against Chaney.

“We’ve played a tough schedule, played a lot of games, and we’re struggling a little bit at the plate,” Weymer said “But, rivalry game, it wasn’t pretty but the bottom line is you win the game and that’s all that matters in the rivalry game.

“The offense will come hopefully at some point, but just for our kids you hope to jumpstart something a little bit, you got four more games this week, so nice to start the week off with a win and hopefully we kind of stack some good games here.”