The FMS Rockets are in unfamiliar territory after suffering a huge 10-4 loss to host Liberty in the first round of the Mid-South Conference Tournament Monday night.

"It was not the start that I was hoping for," said FMS head coach Bart Joyce. "We had a bad top of the first inning and just dug a hole that we couldn't get out of. We had a couple of errors that we couldn't get back and it cost us."

Startling start

The four-time defending champion Rockets dug a sinkhole, putting them down 8-0 in the top of the first inning.

Forrest committed four errors in the frame in non-support of starting pitcher Jordan Jent, who lasted just one-third of the inning, giving up six unearned runs on just two Liberty hits.

The Rockets scored a pair of runs in the second and third innings to cut the Patriots lead in half at 8-4, but could not manage any more tallies in the six-run loss.

Forrest will play the loser of the Huntland/Fayetteville second-round match-up at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Liberty.

'It's not over'

"I told the boys we just got to keep fighting and get back in it," said Joyce. "It's not over, and at this time of the year anything could happen. We just got to fight and stay alive."

Jaylen Smith went 2-3 with three RBIs to lead the Rockets on offense, while Jacob Jones had two hits in four at-bats, Luke Cunningham went 1-3 with an RBI, Dustin Brashear had one base knock, and Jent and Alex Huey both had one hit and scored twice.