The Austin Greyhounds came up on the short end of a 1-0 score in battle between two strong pitchers in the SpamTown Challenge in Marcusen Park Friday night.

Austin’s Joe Huffman went ten strong innings and he didn’t allow a run until the Chaska Cubs started off with a runner on second in the top of the tenth due to international tie-breaker rules. Huffman retired the first two batters in the 10th, but he allowed a two-out double that gave Chaska the lead for good.

“Joe Huffman threw great and it was a good pitcher’s dual. We just came up on the short end,” Hounds manager Matt Cano said. “It’s a great atmosphere and it was very competitive. It’s tough because we don’t want to lose it, but we’re still right in this tournament.”

The Hounds (6-3 overall) also started with a runner on second in the bottom of the tenth, but they couldn’t plate a run. Matt Cano flew out to deep center to start the inning, Nels Nelson hit a deep foul ball that missed being a home run by about 15 feet before he struck out and Zach Schara struck out with runners on second and third to end the game.

“We knew were going to come up with same opportunity [as they had] and we had a couldn’t come through with a clutch hit,” Cano said. “We had a couple of shots and we just didn’t execute.”

Austin nearly took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Jordan Hart drilled an 0-2 pitch for a one-out single down into left field, but John Frein was thrown out at home after he tried to score from second on the play.

The Cubs had runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the ninth and Huffman forced an inning-ending ground out.

Chaska 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 1 6 0

Hounds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 6 0

Hounds pitching: Joe Huffman (L) 10 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 9 K

Hounds hitting: Henry Fleek, 0-for-4; Jordan Hart, 2-for-4; Tyler Leopold, 1-for-4; Matt Cano, 0-for-4; Nels Nelson, 0-for-4; Gabe Kasak, 0-for-3, SB, BB; Zach Schara, 2-for-4; Jeremy Evans, 0-for-2, BB; John Fren, 1-for-2