Shawnee ? Caleb Gress tossed six innings of one-hit ball, and the Free State baseball team scratched out enough offense to secure a 7-3 victory Thursday at Shawnee Mission Northwest in a Sunflower League contest.

Gress struck out eight before turning it over to E.J. Swanson, who threw a scoreless seventh inning.

The two teams actually combined for more errors (seven) than hits (five).

“I think it was a tough day to play defense because of the conditions, and a tough day to hit,” said Free State coach Mike Hill. “And there was some quality pitching by Caleb on our side.”

Free State (5-0 overall, 2-0 Sunflower League) did its offensive damage in the middle innings, the big blow coming on a two-run double by Swanson in the fifth inning.

“We took advantage of a couple of walks, an error, a key hit … really, it was kind of nickeling-and-diming things,’ Hill said. “Kind of an odd game in terms of the ebb and flow. We stuck with it and were able to scratch out runs when we needed to.”

Free State will return to action at 11 a.m. Saturday when it plays host to Olathe Northwest in a makeup of a contest that was postponed due to weather earlier this week.