AUSTIN — With its season hanging in the balance after losing its first round game to Northfield, the Albert Lea softball team let one inning get away from it in its 12-3 loss to Faribault Friday in Section 1AAA action.

These two teams split their season series with both games ending in spectacular fashion.

Dezeray Jacobs threw a no hitter in a 2-0 Tiger win and then the Falcons got even with a grand slam to end the game in their 6-2 victory.

As their third round section game got under way it looked as though these two teams would be in a battle to the end once again.

After holding the Falcons scoreless in the top of the first inning A.L. got exactly what they needed in the bottom half when Jenna Christiansen blasted a fastball over the leftfield fence for a 1-0 Tiger advantage. Carissa Ranum followed with a single and scored on a Falcon error to increase the lead to 2-0 after one.

“We got off to a really good start, totally different than the start we had on Wednesday against Northfield,” said Tigers head coach Chad Feikema. “It was nice to get the early momentum on our side but at the end of the day I think they just had more people that could knock the ball around than we had.”

After two innings Jacobs was well on her way to another fine outing. The senior hurler had not allowed a run and gave up only one Falcon hit.

That all changed in the top of the third when Faribault cranked out four hits, including a two-run shot by Krista Bjoraker and scored three times to take back the lead at 3-2.

One thing this Tigers team has not done all year is quit and that mental toughness helped them keep this one close to the end. Christiansen led off the third with a single and scored on a wild pitch to even the score at 3-3.

Two more Falcon runs in the fourth gave Faribault a 5-3 lead that they clung to heading into the top of the final inning. That’s when everything fell apart for the Tigers as they surrendered seven runs on six hits and found themselves heading