The Jefferson City Renegades came out swinging for the fences Tuesday night, but the power didn't last beyond the fourth inning.
Despite getting two early home runs, the Renegades were caught by the Chillicothe Mudcats, who scored five runs in the sixth inning en route to a 10-6 win at Vivion Field in MINK League play.
Jefferson City finished 2-2 in its four-game homestand to start the second half of the season.
"It didn't think our fight was very good Sunday, especially on offense," Renegades manager Mike DeMilia said. "(Today), the offense was much better. The pitchers all battled."
After spotting two runs to Chillicothe in the top of the first, Hunter Swift led off the bottom half with a home run to right-center field, his second of the season. Cole Evans doubled into center field and scored on Mike Million's single to tie the game at 2.
Each team scored a run in the second, but the Renegades took their first lead in the third. Million reached on a bloop single and scored on Anthony Green's one-out single to make the score 4-3.
The Mudcats tied the game in the fourth, but Evans hit a solo home run off the shed beyond the left-center field fence in the bottom half to give the lead back to the Renegades at 5-4.
"We talked about his good approaches at the plate and getting good pitches to hit," DeMilia said.
Jefferson City was short-handed on its pitching staff Tuesday, and allowing a total of 12 walks put Chillicothe back in the game.
Four of those walks came in the sixth inning. The Mudcats sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning against Ethan O'Keefe and Hunter Swift, who started the game in left field.
Pitching depth has been a struggle for the Renegades this season, but it was taken to a new level Tuesday.
"We had a couple pitchers not show up," DeMilia said. "So we were in a real tough spot.
"The kids that were here wanted to be here, and they're working really hard and they're competitive. That's all we're asking."
The Renegades pitched a second position player, Jake Litteken, who normally plays third base. He threw 2 scoreless innings and scattered three hits.
Jefferson City added a run in the eighth on a throwing error and tried to score a second run on the play, but Avery Jennings was thrown out on a close play at home. The Mudcats took a 10-6 lead into the ninth.
"I don't know about the call at home," DeMilia said. "He might have been safe, he might have been out. If we score there, you never know what happens."
The Renegades turned four double plays against the Mudcats, but two costly errors in the first two innings allowed three unearned runs to score.
"And we missed a play in left field where we could have caught it to get out of an inning," DeMilia said. "There were a lot of plays out there we didn't make, and that's disappointing."
Ten Renegades had at least one hit. Evans and Million each had two hits and one RBI.
Jefferson City (12-19) is off today but will begin a three-game series at 7 p.m. Thursday against the St. Joseph Mustangs, who own the best record in the MINK League at 20-9.
The Mustangs also boast the highest attendance in the league, averaging 2,330 fans per home game at Phil Welch Stadium.
"They're really good and we're going to be playing in front of a lot of fans," DeMilia said. "Hopefully the guys are going to embrace it and look at it as a cool opportunity."