Just when it looked like things were finally going their way, the wheels came off for the Austin Post 91 Legion baseball team in an 11-6 loss to New Ulm at Marcusen Park Wednesday.

After Post 91 (1-9 overall) battled back from a 3-0 hole to take a 6-4 lead into the seventh, New Ulm took advantage of three Austin errors in that frame as is sent 12 hitters to the plate in and scored seven times.

Austin let two pop flies drop in the inning, but New Ulm came out swinging to take the led. After the first two hitters reached base off of Austin reliever John Kirby, Zach Fischer drilled a two-run double and scored an ensuing overthrow by Austin to give New Ulm a 7-6 lead.

Since they have dropped their last seven contests, the pressure to win may have affected Post 91 in the seventh.

“There’s no question (that pressure’s a factor). They feel a little pressure and they became a little rattled and one thing leads to another,” Post 91 head coach Bob Stratton said. “But they’re not giving up and I told them they didn’t play a bad game. Circumstances came together and sometimes you do get snake bit, we let two pop flies drop at the wrong time. Some credit also goes to New Ulm for getting hits.”

Austin showed a lot of resolve early on in the fourth when John Kirby belted a two-run homer to make it 3-2 and Steven Rizzi doubled in another run to tie the game.

After Garrett Fischer drilled a solo homer for New Ulm in the fifth, Mark Harber and Rizzi drew back-to-back two-out bases loaded walks to give Austin a 5-4 lead. Austin almost broke the game open in that frame, but New Ulm center fielder Taylor Roloff made a sprinting over the head grab on deep blast by Dylan Monson to end the inning with the bases loaded.

Austin scored in the sixth when Adam Hemann grounded out to score Joel Swatfager.

Stratton hopes his team remembers the positive moments from Wednesday.

“You’ve got to look on the bright side. I hate losing and they hate losing, but what are you going to do?,” he said. “Just keep trying. We have not been blown out in one game. We’ll be good.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

New Ulm 2 0 0 1 1 0 7 11 12 4

Austin 0 0 0 3 2 1 0 6 8 4

Austin pitching: Dylan Monson, 5 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 4 ER, 1 HBP, 1 K; John Kirby (L), 1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 R, 4 ER, 2 K; Adam Hemann, 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 1 K

Austin hitting: Joel Swatfager, 1-for-4, R; Andrew Orcutt, 2-for-4, R; Robert Wahlert, 0-for-3, R, BB; Hemann, 1-for-4, RBI, R; Kirby, 2-for-4, HR, double, 2 RBIs, R; Mark Harber, 0-for-2, 2 BBs, RBI, R; Steven Rizzi, 1-for-3, double, 2 RBIs, BB; Jacob Hines, 0-for-2; Preston Higbe, 0-for-2, BB; Dylan Monson, 1-for-2; Nate Paris, 0-for-1

New Ulm pitching: Zach Quirring, 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, BB, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 K; Brock Sieve, 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 0 R, 1 K; Kurt Fischer (W), 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 4 K

New Ulm hitting: Kurt Domeier, 1-for-3, double, RBI; Kyle Fischer, 3-for-5, double, 2 RBIs; Wade French, 1-for-4; Zach Fischer, 2-for-4, double, 3 RBIs; Taylor Roloff, 1-for-2; Zach More, 0-for-3; Brigh Enter, 2-for-2