After dispatching their first two Ewell Jackson Tournament opponents by a combined score of 41-1, the Bulldog offense cooled off this evening, losing to the Kempner Cougars, 4-1, and sending the Bulldogs to the 5th-place playoff bracket on Saturday.

The only run for Austin came in the second inning. 3B Ryan Dalton drew a one-out walk, and came around to score on RF Blake Doerr’s single to right. The only other hits for the ‘Dogs were 2B Barrett Barnes’ single in the first, and 1B Adam Shank’s lead-off double in the third.

Robert Psenka took the hill for the Bulldogs tonight, and held that one-run lead through four, taking a 3-hit shutout into the 5th inning. Trouble started brewing with two walks sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt, but a strikeout for the second out looked to dampen the Cougar rally. The next batter, however, knotted the score at 1 with a single up the middle. Needing just one more out to escape any more trouble, the Bulldog faithful thought Psenka was off the hook when his 2-2 offering looked like strike three, apparently to all except the plate umpire. The tide turned quickly against our boys, as the next pitch was a 3-run homer, which put a wrap on the scoring.

The Bulldogs couldn’t mount a threat the rest of the way, and Winkler came in for the Cougars in the top of the seventh to strike out the side and earn himself a save.

Offensive highlights:

· 3 hits for the Bulldogs tonight: a single by Barrett Barnes, a single by Blake Doerr, and a double by Adam Shank.

· 1 RBI on the night, Blake Doerr knocking in Ryan Dalton for the Bulldogs’ only run.

Pitching highlights:

· Robert Psenka (0-2), 4 2/3 innings, 5 K’s, 3 BB’s, 5 hits, 4 earned runs

· Kevin Gelfand, 1 1/3 innings, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 hit, 0 runs