In some respects, Tuesday’s game between Vicksburg and St. Aloysius was more about survival than winning.

The main goal was to just get through it, save as many arms for this weekend’s playoff series as possible, and move on.

Another goal for two inconsistent teams, however, was to win and take some momentum into the playoffs. In that, St. Al came out ahead.

Jacob Breeden went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and four runs scored, Connor Smith also scored four runs, and St. Al outlasted Vicksburg 14-9 in a sloppy season finale at Bazinsky Field.

St. Al coach Steve Hancock said it was a big win for his team heading into Thursday’s playoff opener on the road at Ethel.

The Flashes lost twice in the past week to archrival Cathedral, and Hancock was hopeful that Tuesday’s win would flush away some of that negativity.

“You don’t want a bad feeling going into the playoffs. We needed to win this game because we needed to put the Cathedral losses behind us,” Hancock said. “Sometimes it’s just about having feel-good things.”

Between them, the teams used nine pitchers who combined to issue 17 walks and hit five batters.

Seven of the nine walks issued by Vicksburg’s pitchers came in the fifth and sixth innings.

St. Al scored 10 runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to pull away and stay ahead, even as its pitchers struggled with their control.

“I had four starters out tonight for various reasons,” said Vicksburg coach Derrick DeWald, who was missing most of his starting infield. “I’m not using that as an excuse. The bottom line is, we gave a very good hitting team nine free bases and they made us pay for it. We made a few mistakes in the infield, and when you do that, good teams make you pay. The end result is, it’s 14-9 and we’re lucky it wasn’t 14-4.”

Marcus Williams went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored for Vicksburg (7-15). Chandler Luke drove in two runs, and Will Martin doubled, drove in one run and scored another.

The Gators were coming off a big division win over Callaway on Monday night, but couldn’t keep the momentum going into Thursday’s playoff opener at home against Center Hill.

“You never want to go into the playoffs with a loss,” DeWald said. “I was hoping the momentum we had last night from that big win was going to carry over to today.”

Richland 4, Warren Central 3

Jordan McGowan singled in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving Richland a walk-off win over Warren Central.

Richland (10-9) scored twice in the sixth inning and once in the seventh to overcome a 3-1 deficit. It was the second straight game in which Warren Central (15-10) blew a late lead. It lost 5-3 to Germantown on Monday night.

Of the nine runs the Vikings allowed in the two losses, six came in the sixth and seventh innings.

Josh Lieberman went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for Warren Central. Zach Cox doubled, walked and scored twice.

Starting pitcher Aaron Greene allowed one unearned run on four hits in four innings of work. He walked three batters and struck out one.