ALEXANDRIA — Nate Cress has decisions in nine of Frankton’s 17 baseball games this season, so he’s used to a heavy pitching workload. Friday, he might have carried that to new extremes.

The tall, lanky Eagles senior battled his way through 138 pitches in a steady rain against Central Indiana Conference rival Alexandria. In the end, however, what he did with his bat might have played a larger role in Frankton’s 4-2, eight-inning victory.

Cress laid down a bunt in the top of the eighth, with no one out and Steven Browning on first base. Pitcher Jordan Baker’s throw to first was wild, and Browning advanced to third base while Cress took second. Codey Harrison, the next batter, hit a towering double just short of the 330-foot sign in the right-field corner, scoring Browning and Cress and breaking a 2-2 tie.

Cress took it from there, striking out three Alexandria batters in the bottom of the eighth, stranding two base runners and preserving the win. It was Frankton’s first in CIC play in six attempts and snapped a five-game losing streak.

“It’s nice to get a win in general,” Cress said. “It means a lot to us ... not only a conference win, but we’ve been on a little slump here. It should be a big pick-me-up.”

Cress only walked two batters and allowed just five hits, two of which were infield singles.

“Nate Cress amazes me sometimes,” Frankton coach Chad Kemerly said. “In the fifth (inning), I said, ‘Nate, I don’t know how much more you’re going to go,’ and he said, ‘Coach, I’m fine. I can throw eight if I have to,’ and he did. He must be psychic.”

The game only went to extra innings because Alexandria’s Drew Overman kept Frankton’s bats equally quiet. Overman struck out seven batters in seven innings and scattered eight hits, but only two of those hits left the infield.

The Tigers (5-12, 1-6 CIC) scored first, when Overman’s one-out double scored Kaleb Tatman, who had reached on an error. Frankton (7-10, 1-5 CIC) responded with a run in the top of the second when Cress scored on a wild pitch, and Alex took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second when Nik Parkison, who had doubled with one out, scored when Garrett Hosier’s routine pop fly was dropped by for an error.

Frankton tied it 2-2 in the top of the third when Brandon France scored on Scott Davis’ bunt single. From there, neither team could score until the eighth.

Alexandria left nine runners on base, including two on second and third base in the fourth inning.

“We didn’t get a bunt down when we needed to get a bunt down, and we couldn’t get a timely hit,” Alexandria coach Jeff Closser said. “We’ve got to make plays, and that’s been the story of our season. I thought Cress pitched a hell of a game. He came back in the (eighth) inning, and it looked like he was throwing as hard in that last inning as he was in the first inning. Drew pitched a great game, too. He was up at 110 pitches, and we started that last inning, and I think he was tired. He wanted to do it, but there’s going to be another day for him. He’s a sophomore.”

Frankton’s Cody Ryan went 3-for-3 to lead all hitters. Parkison (2-for-3) was the lone Tiger to have a multi-hit day.