FORRESTON ? No matter how much someone is dealing, sometimes a win just isn?t in the cards.
Forreston pitcher Nick Ludwig didn?t give up an earned run in seven innings, but Dakota scored five runs in the first, which proved to be just enough.
The Cardinals lost 5-4 Monday and fell one game behind both Dakota and Aquin in the NUIC East.
?He was pitching really well,? Forreston coach Kyle Zick said. ?We?ve just got to be able to back him up. Unfortunately, we weren?t able to do that.?
Forreston (8-6, 5-2) committed four errors in the first inning, which led to two-run hits for Dakota (6-5, 6-1) by Tayler Burns and Drew Zellmer.
?This is one that hurts him because he pitched so well,? Zick said. ?You give up zero earned and Dakota did all the right things. Those mental mistakes put a lot of pressure on us.?
Ludwig finished with five strikeouts, allowed one walk and four hits ? three were given up in the first inning ? and faced just 21 batters after Dakota?s early rally.
?I just kept throwing my high and inside fastball,? Ludwig said. ?Then they started catching on and I threw curveballs and change-ups.
?But Dakota?s got some good hitters.?
Dakota struggled with consistency at the plate and also found itself in troubles similar to Forreston?s during the bottom of the second.
Winning pitcher Brandon Lizer had two strikeouts that inning, but back-to-back uncaught strike threes allowed those batters to get on base and helped the Cardinals score two runs. Ethan Groom?s RBI single with the bases loaded put Forreston within two runs of tying the game.
A fielding error in the fifth inning, followed by a passed ball and a wild pitch, allowed Ludwig?s groundout to bring Andrew Beasley to score Forreston?s fourth run.
?All four of those runs shouldn?t have happened.? Dakota coach Britton Kauffman said. ?My gut the whole game was like ?don?t lose this.?
?We were just a step behind defensively and the hitting has got to come along.?
Lizer struck out 10, allowed just one walk and surrendered four hits and two earned runs.
?He did a great job keeping us off-balance,? Zick said. ?It was a great pitching performance for both Lizer and Nick.
?That score doesn?t really reflect how great it was. We just came up on the short side because we compounded our mistakes where Dakota didn?t.?
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