Bowling Green locked up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming District 14 Tournament earlier this week, then turned around and played a closer game than the score indicated against one of the best teams in Kentucky.

Circumstances, especially offensively, aren’t bad for Bowling Green.

Six errors by the Purples and McCracken County scoring in bulk helped the Mustangs stay unbeaten in Kentucky with a 15-9 win over Bowling Green on Friday.

Bowling Green outhit the Mustangs 14-11 and scored in every inning but the seventh. That wasn’t enough to overcome the hot bats of a McCracken County team ranked fifth in the latest Kentucky Baseball Coaches Association Poll.

Twelve unearned runs didn’t help the Purples, either.

“I think that cost us the game, honestly,” senior shortstop Joe Howard said. “We were still battling even with those errors. We were staying in the game hitting the ball and our pitchers were throwing it. I think it really cost us there.”

McCracken County, the reigning Region 1 champions, hasn’t lost to a team in Kentucky this year. The Mustangs (21-6) defeated the Purples in the second round of the state tournament last year, then poured on the runs in bulk against Bowling Green on Friday.

The Purples (22-10) had a 3-2 lead after two innings before McCracken County went off for nine runs in the next three innings. The Mustangs turned a 6-5 lead into a six-run cushion against reliever Max Payne in the top of the fifth.

Bowling Green pulled within three runs late, but not enough to catch the Mustangs. The two teams will meet again Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a game against Apollo at 2 p.m. at Harold J. Stahl Field.

“We made outstanding plays and errors on the simplest plays,” BGHS coach Nathan Isenberg said. “You scratch your head and it’s not characteristic of us. I hope it’s out of our system. It stings and it hurts because we had an opportunity to beat one of the better teams in the state.”

Bowling Green entered Friday with seven straight wins and secured the top seed in the district tournament by sweeping Warren Central. But the Purples needed help from the other district series. South Warren entered the week with one district loss, then dropped the last two games of the Greenwood series, making them the No. 2 seed behind Bowling Green.

Bats have been hot recently for Bowling Green with 79 runs scored during the win streak before playing McCracken, averaging out to double-digit runs each game.

Factor that in with nine stolen bases Friday and the Purples like their current state of offensive aggression.

“I can’t say enough about our offense and what we’ve done,” Isenberg said. “In the last 17 games we’re batting .370, putting up runs and stealing bases. That tells you we’ve got a good offense, but we just have to bring our gloves to the ballpark and give ourselves a chance. Don’t know that we did that tonight.”

McCracken County started hot with two runs in the first inning, but Bowling Green responded with Jackson Haga’s RBI double in the bottom of the first, a game-tying steal of home by Maddox Burr in the second and Eli Burwash’s go-ahead single in the second.

That was the last lead Bowling Green saw.

McCracken poured in four runs in the third, highlighted by Grant Davis’s two-run home run.

Bowling Green cut the deficit to 6-5 before falling behind by six runs. The Purples chipped away, pulling within 11-8 in the bottom of the fifth, but couldn’t get closer than three runs.

Charlie Cummings earned the start and lasted four innings before Payne and Sean Hogan closed it out.

Second baseman Carson Kelley went 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs. Howard, Burr and Bo Morton each had two hits.

“I think we’re really starting to swing the bats well,” Howard said. “Our pitchers are starting to figure it out and get in the groove. If we keep it up, I think we’ll be in good shape for district.”

MCHS 204 052 2 – 15 10 4

BGHS 121 131 0 – 9 14 7

WP: Godwin. LP: Cummings.{&end}