St. Paul broke away early with eight runs in the first two innings, then rode the strong pitching of David Festa to beat the Louisville Bats 9-5 Friday night in an International League game at Louisville Slugger Field.

Festa tied a franchise record with 10 strikeouts, the third time this season he has reached that mark. He limited the Bats to two runs over his six innings.

The Saints struck out 16 on the night, the second time they’ve fanned that many this season. Both have come against the Bats.

Seven Saints recorded two hits each, including Edouard Julien, Brooks Lee, Matt Wallner and Jair Camargo, who led St. Paul with three runs batted in.

The teams meet again tonight in the fifth game of their six-game series.

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Napheesa Collier finished with 30 points and a career-high eight steals, and Courtney Williams added 15 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Minnesota Lynx overcame a slow start to continue their dominance of the Los Angeles Sparks, winning 81-76 on Friday night at Target Center.

The Lynx (10-3) have now won 12 of the past 13 meetings between the two teams.

It didn’t come easy. Minnesota led 77-67 with 3:05 to play before Los Angeles cut the Lynx lead to just three on a jumper by Rickea Jackson with 10 seconds remaining. But Collier hit a pair of free throws and Minnesota held on, winning its third-straight game and its sixth in the past seven.

But things did not start smoothly for Minnesota, which started the game 3 of 9 from the field as Los Angeles (4-9) embarked on an 11-2 run to take an early 14-7 lead. The Sparks expanded that margin to 25-14 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to six points each from Dearica Hamby and Jackson.

Minnesota finished the first quarter 6 of 15 (40%) from the field. Los Angeles was just 7 of 16 (43.8%), but was 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. The Lynx went to the line just once.

The second quarter did not start much better as the Lynx fell behind by as much as 12. But Collier caught fire late, scoring nine of her team’s 11 points on an 11-2 run that cut the gap to three before a layup by Hamby gave the Sparks a 44-39 halftime lead.

Collier finished the first half with 17 points to lead all scorers and added six steals, but her team — which entered play leading the WNBA in 3-point shooting — was just 3 of 10 from beyond the arc.

Minnesota, though, continued to ride the momentum coming out of the half — outscoring the Sparks 18-4 — including a pair of 3-pointers by Bridget Carleton and six points from Alanna Smith over the bulk of the third to lead by as much as seven.

Los Angeles scored six of the quarter’s final eight points, cutting the Lynx lead to 59-56 entering the fourth.

Smith finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota. Carleton added 11 points to the winning cause.

The Lynx finished the night 15 of 18 at the free-throw line, matching the Sparks exactly.

CLASS 2A

Rockford 7, Le Sueur-Henderson 3: With the game tied 3-all through three innings, second-seeded Rockford plated a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth frames to reach the state title game.

Nine different players for the Rockets (25-5) collected hits, including Aiden Smith, who launched a two-run homer in the first inning. Smith also threw a complete game, allowing just three hits while striking out eight.

Foley 4, Esko 0: Trey Emmerich struck out 13 batters in 6 1/3 innings to lead Foley to an upset over the top seed.

The Falcons compiled just four hits, but managed to muster three runs over the first two frames to take a lead they would not surrender.

Josiah Petersen led the way at the plate with two hits, an RBI and a run scored.

Foley will meet Rockford in the Class 2A title game at 1 p.m. Monday at Target Field.

CLASS A

Parkers Prairie 7, Sacred Heart 1: David Revering pitched a complete game while going 3 for 4 at the plate himself to power the No. 2 seed into the state final.

Nolan Steidl also tallied three hits. All three of his RBIs came in the first two innings. Dylan Debilzen, Mason Boesl and Cohen Noska also had multi-hit games for the Panthers (25-1).

Springfield 4, Cherry 2: Noah Neperman went 2 for 4 while knocking in two runs to guide the No. 4 seed to an upset over top-seeded Cherry.

The contest was all square at 1-1 heading to the fifth, when Neperman’s two-run single broke the tie.

Kade Nachreiner threw a complete-game five-hitter for Springfield (24-2).

Springfield and Parkers Prairie will meet in the Class A title game at 10 a.m. Monday at Target Field.

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