Early errors proved costly for the Post 179 Sulphur Drillers in a 6-5 loss to the Post 1 St. Louis Jaxx-Blue on Thursday night at Legion Field.

The Drillers (4-1) committed three errors in the first two innings that lead to runs for St. Louis for a 2-0 lead after two innings.

“We had some young boys in the outfield,” said Drillers manager Robert Henson. “Being shorthanded, you have to play with what you’ve got.”

In the fourth inning, Sulphur’s Lance Hawkins led off the inning with an infield hit and took second on a stolen base. Hawkins came home on a Jaxx error off the bat of Paul White to put the first run on the board for the Drillers. A batter later, Ryan Cooper drove in White with a single to right to knot the game at 2-2.

But the Jaxx (5-0) quickly broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth on two hits and two Driller errors to score three runs to take a 5-2 lead.

The Drillers had a chance to catch up in the fifth with the bases loaded and no outs. Will Redd scored on a St. Louis error at the plate, but that would be the only run to score.

Ty Griffin struck out the side with the bases jammed while holding to a 5-3 lead after five innings of play.

Tyler McDonald tied the game with one swing in the sixth inning for the Drillers with a two run shot over the left field fence to make the score 5-5 going into the seventh inning.

“I knew he had the power in him, and he definitely nailed that one,” Henson said on McDonald’s big fly. “It was a big hit at a big time that brought us back in the game.”

Zach LeCombe led off the bottom of the seventh for the Jaxx and moved to third for Matt Gallier with only one out. White, pitching his third inning in relief, forced Gallier to fly out to right field. LeCombe tagged and attempted to take home for the Jaxx win. The throw from the Drillers’ right fielder had seemed to be on line but Rhodes couldn’t find the handle and the Jaxx took the 6-5 win.

McDonald started the game for Sulphur and pitched four innings allowing five runs on four hits with four strikeouts. White took the loss with three innings pitched while allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts.

Defense was the weak link for Sulphur in the came with Jaxx runners reaching on seven hit batters and five errors.

“We had 12 people running around the bases that shouldn’t even have been there,” said  Henson on the defensive woes. “All their runs came off errors. I’m just looking forward to the rematch with it being a three game series.”

McDonald led the Drillers going 2-for-2 with two RBI’s and Cooper adding a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI.

There were no multi-hit performers for St. Louis but Kade Billedeaux (1-for-4) and Gallier (1-for-3) each picked up RBI’s for the Jaxx.

The Drillers return to action on Monday against the South Cameron Braves at 6 p.m. at Legion Field.