The Trojans even gave fourth-ranked Lyons a good run for awhile last Tuesday before losing both games at Memorial Field, 10-2 in the opener and 8-0 in the nitecap.

Both games were closer than the final scores indicate. In the early innings, the Trojans ran stride for stride with the mighty Lions, but lacked the hitting and pitching depth needed to bag them down the stretch.

In Game 1, Trojan starter Chad Hughbanks allowed only one base runner in the first two innings. But in the third, he temporarily lost command of the strike zone, hitting one batter and then walking three of the next four to force in a run.

Brett Higgins and Blaine Clark followed with consecutive singles to drive in two more runs before Hughbanks ended the inning with two strikeouts.

Following that blip on the radar, the game continued as before until Hillsboro broke lose with a pair of runs in the fifth to pull within 3-2.

After Travis Riesen led off with a single and Alex Nuss drew a walk off of Lyons's Higgins, Troy Frick moved the runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt.

Daniel Jost then delivered a single that brought home pinch-runner Neil Ollenburger and Aaron Stepanek's ground ball out enabled Nuss to score.

"We had a pretty good chance of pulling the upset going into the sixth," coach Phil Oelke said. "But we had to make a pitching change, then had a couple of walks and an error and that kind of opened things up (for Lyons).

Stepanek was the pitcher victimized, giving up three runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh before Jesse Boucher came in to get the final out.

In Game 2, the two teams were deadlocked at 0-0 until Lyons touched starting pitcher Frick (1-1) for a pair of runs in the fourth inning. The Lions scored on a leadoff walk to Clark followed by consecutive singles by Kevin Sechrist and Dominic Martinez.

Jost relieved Frick in the fifth, but the freshman gave up three hits and a walk against four batters before Jesse Boucher took over. Three Lions eventually scored to push the lead to 5-0.

Three more runs in the top of the sixth off Boucher and Gavin Serene put Hillsboro on the edge of a blowout. But the Trojans came within inches of crawling back into contention in the bottom of the inning when Moore walked, Riesen singled and Stepanek reached on an error to load the bases with only one out.

Pitcher Garrett Ludwig then struck out Lucas Hamm for the second out before Nuss ripped a pitch to center. The ball appeared to be over the head of fielder Clint Bieberle, but the senior made an ESPN-quality catch that saved three runs.

Oelke was both encouraged and frustrated by the losses.

"We'd set a couple of goals going into the Lyons games," he said. "We wanted to cut down the number of walks on the mound and cut down the defensive mistakes-and we accomplished that.

"But we are not hitting the ball at all," he added. "We've got about two guys in the lineup who are swinging the bat fairly well."

The Trojans managed only nine hits for the doubleheader-and did not face Lyons's top pitchers, according to Oelke. Jost and Riesen accounted for six of those hits with three each.

"We're not recognizing off-speed pitches right now, but we're not hitting fastballs either," Oelke said. "That tells me right away we've got some mechanical things to work on-and we will this week."

Eleven of the 16 Trojans who struck out during the day did not swing at the third strike.

"That's a confidence thing," Oelke said. "That's how kids are. They get real shaky after a while if they're not hitting the ball. We've got to remember just to stay loose."

Oelke said he saw significant improvement on the mound by Hughbanks and Frick from the previous week.

"Both guys looked more confident out there," he said.

"If we can get some progression at the plate, we're going to be pretty darn competitive maybe by the end of the season."

The Trojans had Friday off and were scheduled to take on Marion at home on Tuesday before traveling to Nickerson on Thursday.