LONGVIEW, Texas - A last inning rally by the Spartans fell short, but Castleton still put forth its best offensive output of the season, scoring seven times in a 10-7 defeat at the hands of LeTourneau on Wednesday evening at Conrad-Vernon Field.

Castleton entered the top of the ninth trailing by five runs but scored twice in the final frame and brought the game-tying run to the plate. Junior Joe Borowski (Schenectady, N.Y.) started the rally with a leadoff single. DJ Detweiler (Starksboro, Vt.) entered as a pinch runner, advanced to all the way to third on an error by the third baseman and scored on a groundout to make it 10-6.

Following a Spartan strikeout, Matt McNamee (Pawling, N.Y.) singled in his first at-bat of the season, scoring Cameron Curler (Vergennes, Vt.). Kyle O'Brey (Schenectady, N.Y.) followed with a walk to put runners on first and second for Ryan Zielinski (Schenectady, N.Y.). Zielinski connected with a 1-2 pitch, but the centerfielder was able to track it down for the final out and end the rally.

With the loss, Castleton finishes its Texas trip with a 0-4 mark. Senior Tyler Erickson (Naugatuck, Conn.) took the defeat, going 5.0 innings and giving up nine runs on nine hits while striking out a single batter. LeTourneau improves to 3-2 with the victory.

Peter Wagner (Brattleboro, Vt.) recorded a team-high three hits for the Spartans, while Borowski, Macyn Clifford (Brookline, N.H.) and Zielinski each had a pair as Castleton totaled a season-high 13 hits on the evening. Dakota Aker (Schenectady, N.Y.) tossed three strong innings of relief, giving up two hits and one run while striking out a pair of batters.

Despite spotting the Jackets a 3-0 lead after one inning, Castleton came back with four of their own in the second. Each of the first three batters of the inning reached base and catcher Mat Pause (Hartford, Vt.) drew a bases loaded walk to score a run. Zielinski followed with a run-scoring single and after a strikeout, Zak Mayo (Avon, Conn.) also earned an RBI walk to tie the score at 3-3. Borowski followed with an RBI groundout to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead.

One inning later, Clifford and Wagner led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Clifford was thrown out at home, but two batters later, Zielinski ripped a double to right field, scoring Wagner for the 5-3 advantage.

LeTourneau responded with a run in fourth to cut the lead to 5-4 and in the following inning broke it open with a five-run frame. The Jackets added a run in the seventh to push their lead to 10-5, setting up the Spartans last inning rally attempt.

Castleton returns to the diamond on March 15, when the team travels to face Apprentice at 5 p.m.