The Austin Greyhounds continued their struggles in section play as they lost 8-5 to the Savage Outlaws in Marcusen Park Friday.

The Hounds (10-9 overall) had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the night when they loaded the bases with one out. Gabe Kasak drew an RBI walk to make it a 3-run game but Nels Nelson and Matt Cano both struck out to end the game.

The Hounds were playing short-handed on Friday and a couple of players were playing out of position, but Cano wasn’t about to make any excuses.

“That’s not an excuse. We battled,” Cano said. “With the guys we have, we gave ourselves a chance to win. I didn’t execute in my last at bat and we had a couple of at bats where if we had a different approach, we would’ve knocked in a run or too.”

Jordan Hart gave the Hounds a big boost when he launched a two-run, 400-foot homer over the center field fence to make it a 2-2 game. Hart added a double later in the game.

“Jordan hit the ball really hard,” Cano said.

Austin tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth when Savage committed an error that allowed an Austin run.

Austin is now 1-3 in the Section and has eight remaining section games. The top four teams in the six-team section will get a first round bye and the top three seeds will get home field advantage in the first round.

“The top three is really our goal,” Cano said.

The Hounds’ section includes the Blue Sox, Burnsville, Savage, the Rochester Red Legs and the Rochester Royals.

Savage 2 0 0 2 0 3 1 0 0 — 8 9 1

Hounds 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 — 5 8 1

Hounds pitching: Nels Nelson, 5 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 R, 3 ER, 7 K; Steven Clennon (L) 2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 ER, 3 K, 1 HBP; Zach Schara, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R

Hounds hitting: Josh Evans, 2-for-4, 2 R, BB; Jordan Hart, 2-for-4, HR, double, 2 RBIS, 2 R, BB; Tyler Leopold, 1-for-3, BB; Gabe Kasak, 1-for-4, 2 RBIs, BB; Nels Nelson, 0-for-3, HBP; Matt Cano, 2-for-5, double; Joe Huffman, 0-for-3, BB; Zach Schara, 0-for-4; Zach Huntley, 0-for-2, R, BB, HBP