It's hard for Fulton Hornets head coach Darren Masek to get a read on his team at times.
Some games, the Hornets take the field prepared and ready. In other outings, well, it's the other side of the spectrum.
Tuesday night's clash with the Moberly Spartans was certainly an example of the latter.
Errors and two-out execution put Fulton in a hole, while lackluster plate approaches halted any momentum the Hornets built in a 7-3 North Central Missouri Conference loss to Moberly at the high school athletic complex.
Fulton (8-10, 5-6 NCMC) committed six errors and managed just four hits in bowing for the fourth time in its last five games.
"The (top of the) first inning was the key," Masek said. "We weren't ready to play. I don't know what it is with this group. Sometimes they show up ready to play, sometimes they don't show up ready to play."
Moberly senior shortstop Tanner Wetrich battled Hornets sophomore starter Luke Gray for nine pitches before leading off the game with a popped single into shallow right.
Gray used five pitches to retire the next two batters on back-to-back groundouts to third. Spartans senior starter Jarrett McCarty then helped his own cause when he reached on an error, allowing Wetrich to score and give Moberly the early lead.
After another Fulton error, junior second baseman Tariq Kitchen's single to left scored McCarty to push the Spartans' advantage to 2-0.
"We made mistakes with both pitches and plays in the field, and we put ourselves in a big hole," Masek said.
McCarty surrendered one hit through the first two innings, while Gray stranded Wetrich and junior center fielder John Heimann at second and third, respectively, to retire Moberly in the second.
Gray used seven pitches to retire the first two Spartans in what would prove to be a disastrous third for both he and the Hornets' defense.
Kitchen then singled and went to third on Moberly senior designated hitter Preston Riles' single, but a Fulton throwing error in the infield allowed Kitchen to score and make it 3-0.
Gray plunked senior right fielder Dakota Colley with a pitch, walked Heimann to load the bases and then hit Wetrich to force home Riles. Sophomore third baseman Drake Davidson singled home Colley, then Heimann scored on a bases-loaded walk to senior first baseman Brandon Boyer to increase the Spartans' edge to 6-0.
Masek pulled Gray following that free pass, ending his day after 2 2/3 innings. Gray gave up seven runs -four earned - on six hits, walked two and struck out two in the loss.
Sophomore Jared Peery relieved Gray, and McCarty promptly reached on a Fulton error as Wetrich raced home with Moberly's final run.
Masek praised Peery's outing, his longest of the season. He threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings, scattered three hits, struck out three and walked one.
"He did a good job," Masek said. "He's a smart pitcher, he changes speeds and he throws strikes. ... Sometimes that's all you need."
Senior shortstop Blake Thompson and sophomore center fielder Alec Fleetwood both walked to start the Hornets' half of the third.
Thompson and Fleetwood advanced on a wild pitch by McCarty, but Thompson's slide into third base re-aggravated an ankle injury suffered earlier in the season.
He was lifted for sophomore pinch-runner Taylor Nelson, who scored on sophomore left fielder Josh Quick's RBI single to left. Sophomore catcher Isaiah Pani's sacrifice fly to center scored Fleetwood, while Quick came in on a two-out, RBI single by junior third baseman Tristan Steffens.
Peery reached in the fourth on the Spartans' only error, then gave way to sophomore pinch-runner Isaac Franklin. Nelson singled Franklin to third with one out and moved to second on the throw.
That would represent the Hornets' last best chance to score as McCarty struck out Fleetwood and then got Quick to line out to center to end the threat.
"If we get a hit and scored two runs, it's a 7-5 game and it totally changes the outlook of the game and everyone's approach, and we just didn't get the job done," Masek said.
McCarty was done after four innings, as he gave up three earned runs on four hits, struck out three and walked two in picking up the win.
"I don't know if he did anything to disrupt us, we just didn't do a very good job of piecing together good at-bats after another," Masek said. "Blame it on whatever, but we didn't have a good approach throughout the game."
Heimann struck out two in three innings, retiring the final nine Fulton batters in order.
Pani and Nelson were both 1-for-2, Steffens finished 1-for-3 and Quick was 1-for-4.
The Hornets hit the road for a non-conference clash with the Hallsville Indians at 5 p.m. Thursday.