Mexico couldn't bring enough around again on Wednesday at home.

Mexico vs Lutheran St. Charles Photo Gallery

The Bulldogs lost their fourth straight game when they dropped a 5-4 eight-inning game to Lutheran St. Charles. Mexico had the tying run on third with one out in the eighth inning but couldn't scratch the run across.

Mexico (7-5), who finished with eight hits and four doubles, closed four innings with a runner in scoring position. The Bulldogs scored once in the third inning before leaving two runners on and plated three runs in the fifth inning.  

"We made some rallies but also didn't extend it," head coach Daniel McCarty said. "We settled for one and kept on going."

Jaydon Eldridge went 2-for-4 with a double, Sam Ryan had two RBI, Brady Fox had two RBI and a double, and Chance McCarty and Austin Maxwell each had a double.

McCarty said Mexico couldn't execute a safety squeeze in the eighth inning when it had a runner at third base with one out. Maxwell was over there after hitting a double earlier in the inning, but McCarty said he would like to see the ball pushed down the baselines more in that situation.

"We've been practicing it," McCarty said. "I want to see it in a game, but we just need to get it down the lines more."

Mexico will have to capitalize better than it has recently, McCarty said, as it left some runners on in its previous 2-1 loss to Class 4 No. 1 Moberly on Monday. Unlike that night, the Bulldogs faced slower velocity on the mound from Conner Harrison. He pitched eight innings with eight hits, three earned runs, three walks and one strikeout.

"I think we hit 12 popups tonight," McCarty said. "We want to be able to sit back and see the ball well instead of being overly aggressive and getting under the ball. It's hard to hit slower pitching. You think it would be easier, but it's hard to sit back, especially with high school kids."

Lutheran St. Charles (2-8) only had one victory going into Wednesday but plays plenty of big schools, including Class 5 and 6 schools. The Cougars were smooth defensively all night.

McCarty said he liked how Mexico played defensively outside of a few moments it couldn't squeeze the ball. Drew DeMint made a diving catch in center field that left him prone in the eighth inning, which allowed the winning run to score.

DeMint just finished a solid performance on the mound by pitching 7 1/3 innings with seven hits, seven strikeouts, four earned runs and two walks. He was taken out after throwing his 97th pitch.

"Drew came out and pitched well," McCarty said. "He was around the zone tonight, he was commanding well, he got outs when needed and he got ahead. We had three pitches left so we didn't want to continue that."

Mexico (0-3 NCMC) will search for its first North Central Missouri Conference victory at 5 p.m. Thursday against its archrival Fulton (7-2, 2-1 NCMC). Like Moberly, Fulton is ranked in Class 4 at No. 7.

"We've just got to keep our heads up," McCarty said. "Good things will happen. We've just got to take one opponent at a time."