For Barnstormers fans who remember the not-so-memorable 2007 season, it had to be frustrating to watch Jason Norderum mow down hitters.

Norderum, now with the Long Island Ducks, was a reliever for Lancaster two years ago. He always had above-average stuff, but he was dogged by constant control problems.

The guy on the mound Thursday night didn't resemble the one people may recall from his Barnstormers days — at least at first. He was displaying pinpoint control and struck out the first four batters he faced.

Norderum's wildness resurfaced in the 11th inning. He walked the bases loaded, one intentional, to set the table for some long-anticipated Barnstormers heroics.

Ryan Mulhern's clutch RBI single scored Adam Shorsher to lift the Barnstormers to a 7-6 win at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

Lancaster improved to 2-5. It snapped a five-game losing streak that included four consecutive losses by two runs or fewer.

Everyone breathed a small sigh of relief.

"It was nice to just get a win tonight," Mulhern said. "We've needed that. We need something to get on a roll. Hopefully this is it and we'll just take off from here."

The timely hit was a big boost for Mulhern, who started the season in a nasty slump. The first baseman was 2-for-23 with 11 strikeouts before his walk-off single. The drought was a mystery to everyone because Mulhern hit three homers and drove in 11 runs during the four-game exhibition season.

"I hit well in spring training and then I just went into a funk," he said. "I was starting to feel better with my timing and started hitting balls on the barrel."

To his credit, Norderum — who had a 7.48 ERA in 16 games for the Barnstormers in 2007 — was dazzling during his first two innings. He fanned Jason Perry, Mulhern, L.J. Biernbaum and Danny Bravo in succession.

Shorsher drew a leadoff walk in the 11th. After he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, Norderum walked Lloyd Turner intentionally and Perry unintentionally to load the bases.

Mulhern was sitting on a first-pitch fastball during his at-bat. He hit a line drive to left field that carried over Ron Davenport and allowed Shorsher to jog home with the winning run.

"I figured he was trying to get ahead," Mulhern said. "I was just trying to get something up in the air by being aggressive early."

Norderum was saddled with a tough loss after being stretched to a third inning.

The Barnstormers relied on terrific relief work by right-handers Jon Huber and Joe D'Alessandro to keep the score tied. After Lancaster scored twice in the seventh to pull even at 6, Huber and D'Alessandro each threw two scoreless innings and combined for four strikeouts.

The game lasted 4 hours and 14 minutes. It was the kind of interminable, topsy-turvy game you sometimes see in the Atlantic League. The innings plodded along with a ton of deep counts and they featured shaky defense that extended rallies. There were five errors that contributed to two unearned runs.

For a change, it was the Barnstormers' opponent that walked away feeling snakebitten. The Ducks left 14 men on base and had four runners thrown out between third base and home.

Although it took them a while, the Barnstormers eventually took advantage.

"Obviously when you get into little slides like this, everything becomes so difficult," Hayes said. "People are pressing. But we got through it and hopefully a win like this can bring us all together and we'll have a good road trip."

E-mail: jguarente@lnpnews.com