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The Austin Post 91 baseball team fell in an early hole, but it was able to hang around for much of the night before bowing out to Rochester Mayo 7-3 in Marcusen Park Tuesday.

Austin pitcher Nick Robertson allowed three straight hits to start the game and Mayo scored three in the top of the first, but he calmed down and allowed zero earned runs for the next five innings.

“Nick pitched a great game and it was a game that we could win,” Austin head coach Joe Ciola said. “Mayo’s a really good team. We can’t make those small mistakes and we certainly can’t leave eight guys on base in those first three innings.”

Post 91 (3-3 overall) had the bases loaded in the second and third innings, but it eventually produced a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth when Robertson tripled in a run and Dakota Retterath singled in Robertson.

That burst brought Austin within 4-3, but Mayo put up three runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.

“It was an early test. Even though we lost, we saw that we can play with them,” Ciola said. “I feel really good about this group. We’ve been in every game and it’s a matter of making corrections and having that want and desire all through the game.”

Mayo 300  001  3  –  7  12  1

Austin 100  002  0  –  3   8   2

Austin pitching: Nick Robertson (L) 6 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 K, 1 HBP; Jared Lillemon, 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 1 HBP

Austin hitting: Peyton Ransom, 0-for-1, R, 2 BBs, HBP; Nick Robertson, 2-for-3, triple, RBI, R, BB; Dakota Retterath, 1-for-4, RBI; Jared Lillemon, 1-for-4, RBI; Ethan Anderson, 2-for-4; Isaac Nelsen, 1-for-4; Brayden Bishop, 1-for-3, HBP; Blake Cummings, 0-for-2; Sam Oelfke, 0-for-2, BB; Dane Schara, R, HBP