STEUBENVILLE — Two teams in need of a win changed fields and days to get their shot at an initial victory of the season Friday. Steubenville Big Red is the one that got it.

Playing Friday instead of Saturday, and at the Crimson Complex instead of at East Liverpool to get the game in due to the rainfall Friday morning and forecasted for Saturday, Big Red got a gem on the mound from Matt Fabbro and used discipline at the plate to earn a 7-1 victory.

“It feels good to hear the song (Cliff Nobles and Co.’s ‘The Horse’) at the end of the game,” Big Red head coach Fred Heatherington said. “We’re getting better, we just have to put some things in, keep moving and keep fighting.

“We played to win, we needed a win, and we won. Hopefully it will get us going.”

Fabbro went the distance, striking out 15 batters, allowing just one single and walking four. It is his second complete game in as many starts, as he fanned 12 on opening against Claymont a week prior.

He struck out the side in the second, third, fourth and seventh innings. Three of the four walks were in the fifth inning, after which he dialed back in and sat down five of the last six batters.

“Matt pitched well, he threw well early in the game, kind of hit a lull in the middle of the game but threw strikes at the end,” Heatherington said. “He was throwing good, he had that one bad inning where he lost control but he came back on.”

At the plate, Big Red (1-2) drew eight walks, three with the bases loaded to bring runs across in the bottom of the fourth. That doubled what had been a 3-0 lead.

Landon Crosier and Myles Cooper each had an RBI single, while catcher Kail Simmons tallied three of Big Red’s eight hits.

“We showed some discipline until the end when we had two pop ups, our hitters were looking for a good pitch to hit and if they didn’t get it, they walked,” Heatherington said. “We’re getting better.”

For the Potters (0-3), the walks and three errors caught up to them. Donovan Shallcross took the loss, striking out four in four innings with six free passes and two hit batters.

Kasen Ramsey drew a bases loaded walk to plate the lone East Liverpool run, while Owen Davis had their lone base hit on the day.

“We gave them extra outs and we can’t do that,” East Liverpool head coach Brian May said. “We can’t give them extra at bats, when you give a good team extra at bats, they make you pay for it. Big Red is always a good team, they’re always coached well, Fred does a great job.

“It was good to get a game in, we had only been able to get two in before this so we were glad to be able to play.”

SCHEDULE CHANGE

Big Red, which travels to Weir on Monday, will now play St. Clairsville at home on Tuesday. That game had originally been scheduled to be played in St. Clairsville.

East Liverpool’s game at Buckeye Local that was originally scheduled for Friday was postponed by the weather and will now be played at a later date. The Potters host the Panthers on Monday, weather permitting.

Big Red 7, East Liverpool 1

EL 0-0-0 0-1-0 0 — 1 1 3

BR 0-2-1 3-1-0 x — 7 8 1

EAST LIVERPOOL (0-3): Shallcross (LP, 4IP, 6R, 5ER, 5H, 4K, 6BB, 2HBP), Birch (2IP, 1R, 1ER, 3H, 0K, 2BB, 1HBP) and Adkins and Shallcross (5). Davis S; K. Ramsey RBI.

BIG RED (1-3): Fabbro (WP, CG, 1R, 1ER, 1H, 15K, 4BB) and Simmons. Mayo RBI; Fabbro RBI; Hicks RBI; Cooper S, RBI; Conrad S; Blackburn S, RBI; Crosier S, RBI; Simmons 3S.