GRIFFITH -- You want pitching? You want defense? You would have had to look somewhere other than Munster's 14-13 victory over Griffith.

The abundance of runs made for high drama, particularly when Griffith had the tying run at third and the winning run at first with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. But it left both coaches shaking their heads in disbelief.

"There's a lot of things I'm happy about offensively and the way we ran the bases," Munster coach Bob Shinkan said. "But I don't think we should have let the game get that close when Griffith has eight errors."

The game might not have been that close had Munster not tossed in a few errors of its own, along with nine walks and a hit batsman. But both teams found ways to turn virtually every inning into an adventure.

It began in the top of the first inning as the Mustangs' leadoff batter Kevin Watterson was hit by the first pitch. After an out on a pop-up, Munster's Mark Dye hit into what should have been an inning-ending double play, but the throw to first was wild. With the inning still alive, Munster's Larry Allen doubled to right to open the scoring. Jim Hinkleman followed with a walk, TJ Hecimovich singled, and Jerrett Tite doubled to put Munster up 4-0.

"We started them with four right off the top," Griffith coach Brian Jennings said. "That should have been a four-pitch inning and instead they get four runs."

But that was just the beginning as Griffith retaliated in the bottom of the first after its leadoff batter, Jake Evanich, was also hit by a pitch.

Hecimovich, pitching for Munster, walked four of the next six batters to plate two runs for Griffith and the game was on.

"Our starting pitcher was out today because of the flu and (Hecimovich) wasn't supposed to pitch," Shinkan said. "I don't know whether that had something to do with (his struggles) or not."

Munster scored a run courtesy of a couple errors in the second inning, but Griffith tied it up at 5-5 on Ryan Galiher's home run. Galiher's opposite-field blast brought home Evanich, who scored the second of his four runs on the day.

Munster (5-5, 2-0) scored in each of the next three innings to take a 10-5 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning. Griffith, though, tied it up again with a five-run outburst aided, in part, by another walk and an error. Kyle Konopasek delivered the game-tying single in the inning, scoring Evanich and Travis Litke.

The key blow came in the top of the sixth inning as Munster's Kurt Leeney, pinch-hitting for Hecimovich, led off the inning with a home run.

Leeney had popped up to the catcher on the previous pitch, but gained new life when the ball was dropped.

"The bottom line is we need to make the routine plays," Jennings said. "We're not asking for All-Star plays or Diamond Gems, just make the routine plays."

The Mustangs went on to score four runs in the sixth inning and carried that four-run advantage into the bottom of the seventh. Griffith (5-6, 1-2) wasn't done yet, though, as Evanich, Konopasek and Galiher all scored, putting the Panthers in position to win with the afore-mentioned runners on first and third.

Watterson then came on in relief for Munster, inducing a force-out at second on a dropped infield pop-up for the inning's second out. Matt Corlett's blooper into short center field looked like it might send the game into extra innings, but Dye chased it down from his shortstop position to end the game.

Cody Eitzen (2-1) got the win for Munster, while Griffith's Kyle Carter (0-1) suffered the loss.

Allen led the Mustangs' hitting attack with two singles, a double, and a triple, driving in four runs while scoring two.