After splitting a pair of games against Shelbyville Post 23 in the Tullahoma Classic over the weekend, the Marshall County Dusters (17-12) lost the rubber match on Tuesday night when they dropped a hard fought 8-7 decision at Joe George Field.

Playing nine innings instead of the usual seven, the Dusters trailed 7-3 through the first four and a half frames before tallying two runs in the bottom of the fifth to narrow the gap to 7-5.

Shelbyville then tacked on another run in the top of the sixth to open up an 8-5 advantage before withstanding a couple of Marshall County rally attempts to hang on for the victory.

Damaging errors

Post 23 finished with 10 hits and three walks against three Duster pitchers, but also took advantage of four Marshall County errors, which contributed to four of Shelbyville's eight runs.

"We had a couple of two out errors that really cost us," said Dusters coach Mike Reese. "We had a couple of chances to get back into the game late, but we couldn't get it done. Every time we caught up, we made another mistake and dug ourselves a hole."

Designated hitter Jonathan Pearson did the most damage at the plate for Post 23 by going 2-for-3 with a walk, two doubles, 4 RBI, and a run scored. Cody Blackburn and Stetson Blackwell also tallied two hits apiece for Shelbyville, while Josh Nave (2 RBI), Blair Dukes (1 RBI), David Pearson, and Austyn Cooper each had one hit.

Duster starting pitcher Ryan McDaniel suffered the loss after allowing five runs, only two earned, over four innings on six hits. Reliever Matt Sharp was the most effective of Marshall County's pitchers and yielded two hits in three and two-third scoreless innings of work to go along with three strikeouts.

The Dusters finished with 11 hits and eight walks against Post 23 starting pitcher Taylor Paschal and relievers Jody Sullivan and David Pearson but hit into two double plays and left 12 runners on base.

Dusters at plate

Leadoff hitter Connor Bush paced Marshall County offensively by going 3-for-5 with a RBI, while Hayden Bailey added two hits. Grayson Wiles (2 RBI), Bubba Houghton (1 RBI), Zack Kirby, Jay Murphy, McDaniel, and Dunn Crowder each notched one hit for the Dusters as well.

Paschal picked up the victory on the mound and allowed five runs over five innings on eight hits and four walks.

Shelbyville left a man in scoring position in the top of the first inning, but crossed home plate three times in the second inning with the help of an error, a Blackwell single, and a Jonathan Pearson two-run double to grab a 3-0 lead.

Marshall County quickly counter-punched and pushed across three runs in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 3-3. After Houghton drew a walk, McDaniel singled and Richardson reached on an error to load the bases with one out. Wiles then lined a two-run single into right field before Richardson advanced to third on a Crowder fielder's choice and scored on a wild pitch.

Following a scoreless third inning, Post 23 pulled ahead 5-3 in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-run double by Jonathan Pearson prior to snuffing out a Duster scoring threat in the bottom half of the frame with the aid of a 8-2 double play.

Shelbyville then tallied two more runs in the top of the fifth on a walk, a Blackburn infield single, two errors, and a RBI single by Dukes to open up a 7-3 advantage.

Not quite enough

Marshall County battled back once again and plated two runs in the bottom half of the inning on the strength of infield singles by Bush, Kirby, and Bailey, an error, and Houghton RBI single to narrow the gap to 7-5.

Post 23 stretched their lead to 8-5 in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Nave, before the Dusters notched a run in the bottom half of the frame to whittle the deficit to 8-6. After loading the bases on a bloop single by Crowder, a Bush infield single, and walk by Kirby, Crowder raced home on a wild pitch.

Marshall County narrowed the gap to 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth on a RBI groundout by Bush, but left the tying run at third base before Shelbyville closer David Pearson worked around a one-out single by Bailey in the ninth inning to secure the victory for Post 23.