BUTLER TWP — Mars I was stranding plenty of baserunners in Game 2 of the Eagle County Baseball championship series against Saxonburg on Friday.

Eventually, Mars manager Rob Fester knew his team would break through.

After stranding nine runners in the first six innings, Mars erupted for four runs in the top of the seventh to come away with a 6-1 victory at Highfield Park.

With the win, Mars took a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five series. Game 3 will be played at 6 p.m. Saturday at Marburger Field and, if necessary, Game 4 will be at 6 p.m. Monday at Highfield.

"With our lineup, eventually we will get hits," said Fester, whose team won 9-0 in Game 1 on Thursday and rapped out 14 hits Friday. "We have too many good hitters.

"When the hits come, the runs come. We take nothing for granted against (Saxonburg pitcher) Curt Schnur. Any chance to score runs against him, you take it," Fester added.

Schnur surrendered a pair of two-out, run-scoring singles by Dan Dell and Dan DeMarco as Mars took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Mars left runners at first and second base in the first and fifth innings as well as runners at second and third with two outs in the second and third innings, but couldn't tack on any additional runs.

"Curt kept us in the game," said Saxonburg manager Dan Cunningham. "We just didn't produce and we paid for it. You can't win when you can't score."

Matt Colella kept the Saxonburg hitters in check, allowing just five hits over seven innings.

Saxonburg did have a leadoff double by Brendan Malone to open the home half of the first inning, but Colella worked out of the jam.

Sandy Sanderson popped out, then Adam Brydon struck out, but Mars catcher Dan DeMarco dropped the ball. Instead of completing the strikeout to first base, DeMarco picked off Malone between second and third base. Austin Leffler then grounded out to end the frame.

Saxonburg also had runners at first and second with two outs in the third, but Sanderson struck out to end the threat.

Saxonburg finally scored for the first time in the series in the sixth inning when, with one out, Chase Rowe singled and Malone doubled to put two runners in scoring position.

Sanderson grounded into a fielder's choice, which allowed Rowe to score, but Colella escaped further damage when Brydon struck out.

"We couldn't get him in," said Cunningham. "Had we scored a couple of runs there, it might have changed the complexion of the game. I give Mars credit. In that last inning, they got a lot of hits."

Mars opened up the game with four runs in the seventh inning, including an RBI single by Bruno, a sacrifice fly by Colella and an RBI double by Paul Westwood.

Colella finished with seven strikeouts and one walk to key the victory.

"Matt is one of our best pitchers," said Fester. "He had electric stuff and kept their hitters off-balance.

"(Colella) doesn't overwhelm you, but he changes speeds ..." said Cunningham. "We had a lot of pop-ups. We were swinging out front and our timing was off. We only had back-to-back hits once. You can't win when you do that."

Saxonburg will try and stave off elimination on Saturday.

Mars 200 000 4— 6 14 0Saxonburg 000 001 0—1 5 1W: Matt Colella 7 IP (7 K, 1 BB).

L: Curt Schnur 7 IP (4 K, 1 BB).

Mars I (30-3-1): Matt Nowaczynski 1B, 2-2B; Mike Bruno 2-1B, RBI; Matt Colella 1B, RBI; Paul Westwood 2B, RBI; Don Dell 2-1B, RBI; Dan DeMarco 1B, 2B, RBI; Sam Sibeto 1B; Brian Slavicek 1B; Dan Berty 1B

Saxonburg (22-11-1): Brendan Malone 1B, 2-2B

Saturday: Game 3: Saxonburg at Mars, Marburger Field, 6 p.m.