WEST BLOOMFIELD >> Rochester got some good pitching to win 13-6 and force a share of the spoils after West Bloomfield defeated the Falcons 10-7 in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Though less runs crossed the plate in Game 1, it was the more hitter-friendly contest of the two, with the teams combining for 27 hits compared to just 14 (seven each) in the second game.

From leadoff hitter Logan Scheidt to cleanup man Lewis Donaldson, West Bloomfield’s top four in the lineup came up big in the Lakers’ win. Michigan State commit Stevie Fountain, hitting in the No. 3 spot, had three hits like Donaldson, and the tandem combined to drive in a handful of runs and help eradicate an early 5-2 Rochester lead.

Shortstop Jake Norton and outfielder Griffin Tanner both had three hits in Game 1, with Norton finishing a homer away from the cycle, but Mason Ermis and Jalen Payne combined for three scoreless frames that prevented the Falcons from a late comeback.

In the second game, the Lakers rattled senior Joshua Francek for two runs in the top of the first, but the Falcons’ southpaw settled in and didn’t allow another over his four total innings on the bump.

“We’ve got talented arms, we’re just trying to get guys to piece it together,” said Rochester head coach Eric Magiera, who graduated three of his top four arms in terms of innings from last season’s side that reached a regional final and allowed just 10 runs in four postseason games. “We need guys to be able to go out there and throw strikes. Our defense is pretty solid most days and we can find ways to score, so as long as our pitchers can just keep us in a game, you get a chance to win, and Josh today did a great job doing just that. (Our arms this year) may not go out there and strike out 10 guys, but we can absolutely be in ball games the same way as last year.”

At the plate, Matt Dyki and Alessandro Prasatek each drove in four runs for the Falcons (10-9) in Game 2, as did Norton, continuing his stellar day.

“Both games, (Jake) sprayed it around the whole field out there, and he came up big when we needed it. He drove in some runs that, you know, even in the second game when things started to get a lot tighter, those runs he drove in early on, that’s the difference.”

Cameron LaFlamme led the Lakers with three hits and two RBIs in the defeat to close the day.

“Obviously when you play a school as good as Rochester, on Saturdays, you know it’s just going to be two grind-it-out games, and a split is probably what we both would have taken going into the day,” Lakers head coach Josh Birnberg said. “The bats really led the way for us in Game 1, pitchers kept us in there long enough to take the lead, and we never looked back, so proud of the guys for finding a way when it could have gone either way. And Game 2, we fought, never quit, just gave up too many runs too early.”

West Bloomfield sits at 11-5, finding ways to pick up wins as it battles through a variety of short-term injuries.

As the weather continues to warm up, the Lakers will also look to extend the outings of their most talented arms, which include Slade Moore (Michigan) and Fountain.

“We’ve got a huge series against Groves coming up,” Birnberg said.

“We don’t know about the league — it looks like Troy’s in a pretty good spot right now — but our goal is just to win every single series that we play, especially in the league.

“So we’ve got three really tough games against Groves coming up, Slade’s going in Game 1, and we’re expecting big things from him.”

Asked about the significance of splitting Saturday’s games even if Rochester didn’t face Moore or another top-of-the-rotation guy like Brady Scheidt (New York University), Magiera responded, “It doesn’t matter if they have their top guys out there, they’re still a really good team, and that’s why we scheduled them on a Saturday.

“You want to see good competition and a team that’s going to make you better, and they do that (for us) every year that we play them.”

While the Lakers will tangle with Birmingham Groves, the Falcons have a three-game series with Athens Monday that begins in Troy and concludes on Thursday in Rochester Hills.