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| Johnny Dittman 2-3, 2B, Run (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
The loss to the Sabers was the Tigers' second in as many days. Shakopee won Wednesday's match-up at Tiger Field 10-4.
"It's been a tough week so far," Tiger coach Jon Graff said, "but we knew coming in that we'd be facing the best the conference had to offer.
"The disappointing thing is that we're hurting ourselves too much. We can't continue to make the errors that we have been making- especially against good teams. If we can just make the routine plays, we'll quit putting our pitchers in tough situations."
As was the case in Tuesday's loss, the Tigers dug themselves an early hole, falling behind 4-0 after two innings.
The Tigers didn't get on the board until the top of the sixth inning when Johnny Dittman doubled, his second hit of the game, and eventually scored on Jordan DeCroock's sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Shakopee countered with the final run of the contest in the bottom of the sixth.
The Tigers actually outhit the Sabers 6-5 but a lack of hitting with men on base and four costly errors proved too much to overcome.
"Every error is more pitches we have to throw and more guys we have to work to keep from scoring," Graff said, "and right now we're not doing a good enough job of attacking the grounders and making good throws."
Parker Holmstrom pitched well in defeat, scattering five hits while striking out three batters and not issuing a walk.
"We've battled some injuries and shuffling of the line-up, but we have to do a better job of competing and bringing the energy and focus that we had earlier," Graff said. "We also have to get back to having more good, quality at-bats."
The Tigers will get a chance to do those things Friday when they host league-leading New Prague at Tiger Field.
