The Elks (3-1, 2-1) handed Nichirin their second straight close loss on Tuesday afternoon when they defeated the defending champs 4-3 in six innings at Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Park.

Nichirin (1-3, 1-2) appeared to be in good shape early on and held a 3-0 lead through the first three innings of play. The Elks then saw the momentum swing to their dugout shortly after that point, as they crossed home plate four times in the top of the fourth inning to seize a 4-3 advantage before starting pitcher Wilson Limbaugh held Nichirin scoreless the rest of the way to claim the one-run victory.

Winning pitcher

Although he battled control problems early in the contest and issued seven walks, Limbaugh limited Nichirin to just one hit while racking up 10 strikeouts en route to earning the win. Nichirin also left seven runners in scoring position and stranded nine men on base overall.

Josh McKnight (RBI) singled to account for Nichirin's lone hit of the game, and Tata Davis drew three walks.

Nichirin starting hurler Stuart Warner was the tough luck loser and yielded just two hits in six innings of work while recording seven strikeouts and issuing no walks. Warner, however, was unable to overcome six Nichirin errors, which contributed to all four of the Elks' runs.

Derrick McKnight (1 RBI) and Ben Taylor singled to pace the Elks at the plate.

Fast charge

Nichirin wasted no time getting on the board and pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first inning on the strength of walks from Jay Howard and Davis, an Elk error, a RBI bloop single by Josh McKnight, and a pair of RBI fielder's choices from Hunter Bradford and Jacob Autry to grab a 3-0 lead.

After leaving two men in scoring position in the bottom of the second, Nichirin had another chance to pad their lead in the third inning when they loaded the bases with no outs thanks to walks from Josh McKnight, Davis, and Bradford. Limbaugh then settled down and retired the next three Nichirin batters on a couple of strikeouts and a groundout to escape the jam.

Missed chances

Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt Nichirin in the top of the fourth, as the Elks pushed across four runs in the frame with the help of four errors, a Taylor infield single, and a RBI infield single by Derrick McKnight to pull ahead 4-3.

Nichirin had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth when Madison Peete reached second base with one out thanks to a Elk throwing error, but Limbaugh retired the next two hitters on a foul out and a groundout to snuff out the threat.

After working around a one-out walk by Davis in the bottom of the fifth, Limbaugh sat down Nichirin in order in the sixth inning before the game's time limit expired.