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“I thought we played alright,” starting pitcher Ty Madrigal (St. Mary’s) said. “Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”

Madrigal dominated on the mound for the Big Train, but was backed by only four hits. The southpaw went seven innings giving up four hits and six strikeouts. All three runs scored during Madrigal’s start were unearned.

“He just pounded the zone so he did his job,” assistant coach Tyler McKee said. “He did a great job today.”

Madrigal’s outing also marked the first time a Big Train starter went longer than five innings.

“It’s cool getting a lot of confidence going forward in the season and I feel good right now,” Madrigal said.

Beyond just run support, Madrigal’s defense let him down as well. The Big Train finished with five errors on the night, a number manager Sal Colangelo was less than pleased about.

“When you do that and do it the situations when there’s runners in scoring position it’s tough to come back,” Colangelo said.

On the offensive side, the Big Train couldn’t find the ball.  Kevin Milam (St. Mary’s), Jacob Koos (Stetson) and Michael Emodi (Creighton) all hit doubles on the night but the Big Train left seven runners on base.

James Outman (Sacramento State), who lead the league in batting average entering Friday’s game, was 1-for-3 with a single on the night.

“Offensively we couldn’t get it done,” Outman said. “Played pretty sloppy on D and just not going to win you games when you got more errors than hits.”

Despite Friday’s performance and back-to-back losses, Colangelo remains confident the team will make the necessary changes going forward.

“We didn’t make any adjustments,” Colangelo said. “So we’ll have to get them back together and figure a way to get back on track.”

The Big Train’s next contest will be Saturday night against the Rockville Express. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Shirley Povich Field.

“It’s a new day at the ballpark and you’ve got to love it so get back out there tomorrow,” Madrigal said. “We’ll be alright.”