A balk by Shawnee Mission East pitcher Brett Harrop advanced home the tying run for Lawrence High in the fifth inning Tuesday.

But Harrop, a senior hurler, redeemed himself in the bottom of the inning with a game-winning RBI single, giving the Lancers a 3-2 victory at Ice Field.

“He definitely had a big day today,” LHS senior Brett Urban said of Harrop, who also hit a solo home run in the third that gave SM East its first lead. “I don’t know what it was about him, but we couldn’t hit him, and he definitely hit us. It was kind of mind-boggling.”

Lawrence High was the visiting team despite playing on its home field. The game originally was slated to be at SM East, but a scheduling conflict forced the site swap.

The home field seemed to help the Lions early when senior Kyle Unruh cranked a solo homer in the second for a 1-0 lead.

The advantage was short-lived, because Lancer Jeff Nelson laced a single up the middle to tie the game at 1 in the bottom of the second.

Then Harrop took over.

The Lancers’ leader allowed only four hits and struck out three Lions in five innings, twice retiring LHS in order.

Harrop’s counterpart, Brett McBride, was nearly as effective, allowing just three hits in four innings.

But the Lions couldn’t convert on key scoring opportunities, stranding five baserunners.

“I told the guys if he doesn’t make the balk, we get beat 3-1,” said LHS coach David Petry, whose squad dropped to 4-2 on the season. “We did a pretty good job of moving runners on base when they got on, but we couldn’t get them in.”

“We had a lot of opportunities today and mine was probably the biggest, and I just didn’t get it done,” senior Courtney Hutchison said.

LHS travels Tuesday to Olathe North.