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EPHRATA — When two evenly matched baseball teams take to the diamond, errors can often be the difference between a victory and defeat.

Such was the case Saturday as the Ephrata Tigers took advantage of several key mistakes by the Othello Huskies to win a pair of games 5-3 and 2-1.

With the game tied at three in the fifth inning of game one, the Othello infield committed two errors that led to two Tiger runs. Eric Tinnell led off the inning with a double for Ephrata, and scored from second when Austin Chamberlain hit a ball up the middle that the Othello second baseman couldn't get a handle on.

Chamberlain then stole second base, and advanced to third when the throw to second on the steal attempt sailed into center field. With two out and Chamberlain on third, Brett Bazaldua singled back up the middle to make the score 5-3.

In the second game, Ephrata scored an unearned run in the third inning, and went into the bottom of the seventh tied at one with the Huskies.

In the seventh, Ryan Burck reached first base after being hit by a pitch, stole second and went to third on a Tyson Hubbard groundout. Burck then scored on a passed ball to give Ephrata a 2-1 win that clinched second place in the CWAC for the Tigers.

"It's been our Achilles' heel," said Othello coach Larry Gonzalez of his team's defensive letdowns. "We just take that one inning or one out off, and that's what hurts us."

The first game looked as if it would turn into a high scoring affair, as both teams plated two runs in the first inning. Starting pitchers Tyler Lesko of Ephrata and Isaiah Suarez of Othello both settled in after the first inning to slow the opposing offenses.

In the fourth inning, Ephrata used a leadoff walk of Tyler Lesko to take a 3-2 lead. After Lesko stole second base, Travis Ruffin came to the plate and doubled to the fence in left field to give the Tigers their first lead of the contest.

"We've been hitting the ball real well all season," said Ephrata coach Jason Laugen.

Othello's Marc Garza erased the Tigers' lead with one swing of the bat in the next inning, driving a line shot over the left field fence to tie the game at three. The Othello defense couldn't make the plays to back up Suarez, who despite a good game lost the battle between the two left-handed pitchers.

"Our pitchers are pitching a heck of a game," said Gonzalez. "You couldn't ask for anything more."

For the Tigers, strong pitching combined with reliable defense made the difference Saturday.

Ephrata took a 1-0 lead in the second game when Burck reached base on an error and eventually scored on a single by Tinnell.

Othello tied the game at one in the sixth on a David Garza sacrifice fly that scored Marc Garza from third base. Marc Garza led off the inning with a single to left, then Jamie Valdez doubled to set up David Garza's game-tying RBI.