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Undone by four errors and an 8^th-inning Southland rally, the DuPage County Hounds fell for the first time in this 2014 Midwest Collegiate League season, falling to the Vikings 8-5 at Benedictine Stadium.

The Vikings put five runs on the board in the top of the 8^th. Leading 4-3, DuPage reliever Adam Dressler allowed a leadoff single to Micah Rooke, who later scored on a wild pitch. Chase Fieldhouse’s sac fly put Southland up 5-4, and after back-to-back two-out singles by Bobby Shepard and Jeff Boehm Christian Bokich came on to relieve Dressler. Dan Potempa’s fly ball to left made trouble for Stewart Nelson, whose error eventually led to three unearned Vikings runs.

The Hounds rallied in the bottom of the 9^th as Drew LaComb doubled and scored on Alex Cain’s RBI single, but Emerson Misch watched Connor Ryan’s 1-2 fastball go by with two on and two out. Ryan, who earned the win for Southland, tossed three innings of one-run relief ball, striking out four.

Southland struck early as Alex Lugo singled in Stefano Belmante in the top of the 2^nd. A second run would later score when Kyle Hunsinger misplayed a groundball at shortstop. The Hounds would commit four errors by the end of the contest.

DuPage got a run back on Connor Kopach’s sac fly in the 3^rd. The home side took a 3-2 lead in the next frame when Nelson tripled in Drew Sterioti and came home on a wild pitch. The Hounds added an insurance run in the 7^th when Southfield’s Shepard blundered on Nelson’s groundball to shortstop.

Sterioti and Nelson each scored twice. LaComb added two doubles and Cain’s three singles boosted his team-high average to .542.

The Hounds fall to 7-1 on the year and hit the road for the next week and a half, starting with a Wednesday night affair in Lexington against the Snipes. DuPage’s next home game will be against the Snipes on Thursday, June 19, at 7:00.