The result was two more games added to the loss column, but in facing the league's second-best team, the Southeast Legacy Twins played a tight doubleheader on Saturday.
The Twins and Regina Wolfpack played in Weyburn at Tom Laing Park, with the Wolfpack (13-4) winning by scores of 6-3 and 5-4 in extra innings.
The Twins are in last place in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League with a 4-20 record.
Earlier this month, the team defeated the first-place Regina Athletics and head coach Derek Wallace said their recent play against top teams has been encouraging.
"There's definitely movement in the positive direction where we're having tight games against them, whereas earlier in the year they were hammering us. We're taking them right to the brink now," he said.
"It shows everyone on the team that when we all commit to it and play our game, we can beat the top teams. We've gotta play like that more consistently."
In the first game on Saturday, the Wolfpack scored three runs in the fifth inning to break open a tie game.
Regina had opened the scoring with one run in the second inning, as Jordan Hart singled in Ben Komonosky.
The Twins got one of their own in the bottom of the fourth when Colton Gingras scored on an error at shortstop.
"We just kinda struggled to score runs, especially early in the game. We got a strong starting pitching performance (from Austin Kuchinka) and couldn't find a way to score runs," said Wallace.
In the fifth inning, the Wolfpack scored three runs on a single by Cole Warken and a two-run double by Kade Erickson, taking a 4-1 lead.
Regina tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning on a single and a sacrifice fly.
The Twins got those back in the bottom of the seventh, as Garret Fitzpatrick and Sean Jonassen hit back-to-back RBI singles, but the fifth inning proved to be the difference for the Wolfpack.
Carver Krafchuk was the Twins' top batter, hitting 3-for-4.
Kuchinka threw four and two-thirds, allowing four runs on five hits, two strikeouts and a walk. Carson Perkins came on to throw two-thirds in relief, allowing two runs, while Dylan Hockley threw a scoreless inning and two-thirds after that.
Wolfpack starter Alex Galloway pitched four innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and a strikeout. Reliever Dylan Tremblay allowed two runs on four hits and struck out two in three innings of work.
In the second game, meanwhile, Jonassen singled in Krafchuk in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game for the Twins and force extra innings.
The team would lose on an error, however, as a mistake by second baseman Chris Cooper resulted in Warken scoring the winning run in the ninth inning.
Wallace said it was tough to lose a close game that way.
"We definitely had chances to win that game. A couple of balls go our way or we get that extra hit, all of a sudden we win that game, so it is disappointing."
The Wolfpack opened the scoring with single runs in the first and second innings. A sacrifice grounder brought one run to the plate in the first, while a sacrifice fly brought in another in the second.
The Twins fought back with two runs in the bottom of the second, with Cooper hitting a single and Gingras and Jonathon Macfarlane scoring on a play that was marked as a fielder's choice.
In the third, Jimmy Giroux scored on a passed ball to give the Twins a 3-2 lead.
"Offensively, we did a much better job of playing our game, finding a way to scratch across a few runs. We don't have those power hitters, so we have to scratch and claw for runs," said Wallace.
The Wolfpack grabbed the lead again with two runs in the fifth inning, as Komonosky scored on an error and Carter Folk came in on a wild pitch.
Wallace said the last-place Twins have struggled to bring the same form to the ballpark every game.
"It's just a real lack of consistency. We'll come out one game and be very strong and then have a couple of games where we don't show up and play our game. The main focus the last month has been getting us to play to that high level on a consistent basis.
"We need to take what we've been doing positively the last couple of weeks, continue to improve on those things and cut out those little mental mistakes. That's what has been costing us."
The Twins have six games left in the regular season, beginning next Tuesday when they visit the Wolfpack in Regina.
The team's next home action is a doubleheader on July 12 against the Regina Mets.
Wallace said although it has been a tough season, he has seen a lot of improvement in the club since May.
"We're leaps and bounds from where we were at the start of the year. Teams like the Wolfpack and Athletics, half the time they were mercying us, and now we're playing them into extra innings and sneaking out a couple of wins against them."
He added that the bright spot to this season is "the constant improvement that everybody's really shown. Nobody's given up on the season, even though we really struggled there. We have to keep working and get to a point where we can compete against the top teams."
