ROCHESTER — The Post 91 hitters just couldn’t figure out Rochester pitcher Ryan Lakin.

Austin had just five hits as it lost a First District playoff game to the Rochester Patriots 10-0 in eight innings at John Adams Middle School in Rochester Tuesday.

The game started promising for the Post 91 bats as Quinn Yocom and Joey Swatfager had back-to-back one out singles in the top of the first, but Mark Harber grounded into a double play to end that inning and Lakin retired 14 of the next 15 Austin hitters he faced.

“The biggest thing about this game was our lack of hitting,” Post 91 manager Bob Stratton said. “Part of that was they had a good pitcher on the mound who had a lot of drop on his pitches and part of that was us. Sometimes we’re not aggressive enough at the plate.”

Yocom had three of Austin’s hits and Swatfager had the other two.

The loss overshadowed a standout performance by Austin pitcher Luke Mallory, who allowed just one earned run in six innings of work. Mallory struck out three, scattered eight hits and had two walks as he pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth by striking out Alex Nelson.

“I was just trying to get foul balls and groundouts,” Mallory said. “I knew I couldn’t throw it right down the middle against this lineup.”

Stratton was pleased with the effort from Mallory, who threw a strong mix of fast balls and curve balls.

“Luke kept his composure out there and I was really happy with how he pitched,” Stratton said.

The Patriots broke open the game in the second inning by scoring five unearned runs to make it 6-0. Eric Williams singled to start the inning, Mallory struck out the next hitter, then Austin (7-18 overall) committed an error on a grounder to put runners on first and third. Alex Ziemann blooped a double into shallow center to score two runs and Austin committed another error to open the door for Robin Heilskov to double in two runs.

Post 91’s only other offensive threat besides the first inning came when Yocom and Swatfager had back-to-back two out hits to put runners on second and third and Harber struck out.

While he wasn’t happy to take a loss, Mallory said he picked up some confidence while holding the Patriots’ lineup in check.

“This almost feels like a win for me, but it’s tough to loose,” he said.

The Austin Post 91 Legion baseball team is now one loss from having its season end. It will play Winona at Owatonna Friday at 10 a.m. in an elimination game and if it wins its first contest it will play another elimination game.

Austin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 2

Patriots 1 5 0 0 0 0 3 1 — 10 13 0

Post 91 pitching: Luke Mallory (L), 6 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 6 R, 1 ER, 3 K; Quinn Yocom, 1 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 4 ER

Post 91 hitting: Mike Tindal, 0-for-3; Yocom, 3-for-4; Joey Swatfager, 2-for-4, double; Mark Harber, 0-for-2, BB; Adam McMasters, 0-for-3; Brady Klingfus, 0-for-3; Preston Higbe, 0-for-1; Aaron Goetz, 0-for-2, HBP; Jay Ettinger, 0-for-3; Jordan Lysne, 0-for-2; Mitch Arjes, BB

Patriots pitching: Ryan Lakin (W), 8 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 0 R, 6 K

Patriots hitting: Jordan Stokes, 2-for-4, double, RBI, BB; Alex Ziemann, 3-for-5, 2 RBIs; Dan Chihak, 1-for-5, RBI; Robin Heilskov, 2-for-5, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs; Anthony Johnson, 0-for-4, BB; Eric Williams, 1-for-1; Alex Brady, 1-for-3, RBI, BB; Lakin, 1-for-3; Eric Nelson, 1-for-3, RBI, BB; Alex Nelson, 1-for-4, double, RBI