NEW RICHLAND &045;&045; Frustrating was the choice word New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva head baseball coach Jeff Reese used to describe the 9-7 loss his team suffered Tuesday against conference leader Mankato Loyola.

The Panthers (3-4 overall, 3-2 Gopher) allowed five unearned runs and started the game by committing three errors in the field.

&8220;It&8217;s really frustrating, all the mental mistakes,&8221; Reese said. &8220;We&8217;ve been playing pretty well.&8221;

The night before NRHEG erupted for five runs in the first two innings en route to a 7-4 win over Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, but could do little against the Crusaders (6-1 overall, 6-0 Gopher) in the early going.

Instead Mankato Loyola jumped out to an 8-0 lead after four innings.

But as NRHEG began conceding a blowout, the rally started.

The Panthers scored one run in the fifth, followed with three in the sixth and three more in the seventh to climb to within two and had two runners in scoring position, but couldn&8217;t find the clutch hit they needed.

Junior Colton Schlaak continued to smack the ball around with a 3-for-5 night at the plate with 2 RBIs. Senior Dakota Tracy contributed with a 4-for-5 night including a double and 2 RBIs.

Mankato Loyola 9, NRHEG 7

Mankato Loyola – 4031001

NRHEG – 0000133

LP: Tracy (2-2) 3 IP, 7 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K