WINDSOR – Despite a good day at the plate, Bertie suffered a 9-7 setback Thursday afternoon.

The Falcons recorded 11 hits on the afternoon, but couldn’t hold a late lead as they suffered their third setback in 2007.

Bertie jumped out to an early lead in the contest, plating two runs in the second stanza.

Scott Hoggard started the inning when he reached via an error and took second on a P.J. Schwab single. Ethan Boller loaded the bases when he reached on a bunt single.

Bo Ledford had an RBI-single to send Hoggard home and Schwab scored on a Charlie Castelloe RBI-groundout to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.

Williamston battled back to take a 3-2 lead in the third inning, but Bertie answered with three marks of their own in the same frame.

In the third, Brent Bowen was hit by a pitch and took second on a Hunter Mizelle single. Bowen came around to score on an Aaron Hoggard RBI-single. Mizelle and Hoggard advanced on a throwing error. Mizelle came in to score on a Schwab sacrifice fly and Hoggard came home on Boller’s RBI-single that made it 5-2.

Williamston tied the score at 5-all with two runs in the fourth before Bertie surged back into the lead with a single mark in the fifth.

The fifth frame started with Aaron Hoggard, Scott Hoggard and Schwab all having consecutive singles. After a strike out and a force out, Scott Hoggard scored on a Castelloe walk, making it 6-5.

The Tigers evened the score with a single run in the sixth, but Bertie answered quickly.

Bowen led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a Mizelle sacrifice. Aaron Hoggard had an RBI-double that scored Bowen and gave Bertie a 7-6 lead.

After the Tigers scored three in the top of the seventh, the Falcons had an opportunity in the seventh but came up short after loading the bases with no outs.

“We came out and played hard yesterday,” Bertie baseball boss Randy Whitaker said. “We lost 8-1 to them in the first game and I told our team we were better than that.

“We played hard and had several chances to win, but weren’t able to get it going in the seventh,” he added. “As I told our guys, those are the games we have to figure out a way to win.”

Boller and Aaron Hoggard were each 3-for-4 on the afternoon. Hoggard added two RBIs while Boller had one. Schwab was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Mizelle and Ledford were each 1-for-3 while Scott Hoggard was 1-for-4.

Bowen (2-2) suffered the loss after pitching 3.1 innings in relief. Aaron Hoggard started on the mound and finished with a no decision.