Austin scored runs in five of seven innings but stranded the tying run on third base in the bottom of the seventh as mental mistakes caught up to the Packer baseball team in a 7-6 non-conference loss to Hill-Murray Saturday at Marcusen Park.

The Packers (1-1, 1-0) got five quality innings from starting pitcher Kyle Rizzi, but baserunning errors and a lack of communication in the field forced Rizzi into a loss. Hill-Murray's Pete Marcinal scattered 10 hits and six runs over six innings for the victory, and Brent Timm escaped the seventh for the save.

Austin threatened to come back from the Pioneers' 6-1 lead with two runs in the fifth and solo runs in the third, fourth and sixth, but Hill-Murray managed to escape the seventh unscathed.

Neil Toov, Austin's third pitcher of the game, reached with a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh. His courtesy runner, Steve Oscarson, moved to second on a passed ball before Jordan VanProosdy doubled over the left fielder's head. Oscarson hesitated off second and was unable to score on the play.

Oscarson saw the opportunity to make up for the hesitation on a wild pitch to Tony Wise, but a perfect recovery from Hill-Murray catcher Andy Eagan to Timm caught Oscarson at the plate. VanProosdy moved to third behind the play, but could not score after Wise's line drive was blocked by the Pioneers' back-up third baseman Pat Rodriguez. His throw was on-time to get Wise at first, ending Austin's come-from-behind bid.

"If we're going to make mistakes, we might as well make them now," said Austin senior Nick Bowe. "We just need to work on the smaller things, more communication and more enthusiasm for the game."

Austin committed three errors in the loss, and let a pair of bloop singles fall in for the Pioneers (1-0). Hill-Murray scored five runs in the top of the third to take a 6-1 lead after Austin had scored a solo run in the bottom of the first.

"It's too bad, they just hit it where we weren't," Rizzi said. "We've just gotta learn from it and hopefully come firing right back."

Austin hosts Winona for a Big Nine Conference doubleheader on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Packers opened the year with a 5-4 league win over Faribault.

"This was just a bad loss, thankfully it was non-conference," Packer coach Kris Fadness said. "Hopefully they'll be a little more focused on Tuesday. We just took ourselves out of the game today.

"I'm disappointed. I thought we were better than that, but at the same time maybe we're not."

Austin pounded out 11 hits, including a 3-for-4 day for senior center fielder Matt Johnson. His triple down the left-field line scored Rizzi in the sixth to bring the Pack to within one, 7-6.

The Packers plated a pair of runs in the fifth to get to within 6-5. Johnson singled to lead off and Klapperick followed with a double to the right-center gap. After an out, Tim Johnson grounded to the second baseman, who tried unsuccessfully to throw Matt Johnson out at the plate. With runners on the corners, VanProosdy lifted a fly ball to deep center to plate Klapperick.

Hill-Murray added its much-needed insurance in the sixth without a hit. Number-nine hitter Tony Rawlings reached second base after his swinging bunt was thrown away by Tim Johnson. After a tough grab by backup catcher Billy Anderson gave the Packers two outs,

Johnson threw a wild pitch and walked Andy Schultz to put runners on the corners. Schultz, already with one stolen base, took off for second to sacrifice himself for a run. The throw at the plate was in time for a collision, but the ball squirted loose from Anderson's mit.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :mailto:sports@austindailyherald.com.