Just when things are on the upswing, the Ironton Fighting Tigers defense takes a nose dive.

Ironton put itself in position to tie for the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League South Division lead, then saw its defense break down Wednesday against the Chillicothe Cavaliers.

Ironton won a game suspended on April 13 in eight innings, 9-7, but then lost the regularly scheduled game 11-6.

The Fighting Tigers were guilty of six errors to overshadow a 14-hit attack.

“It’s the same old thing. We had a chance to move into first place and we can’t stay focused.”

Gallipolis is 7-4, Portsmouth 6-4 and Ironton 6-5 in the SEOAL South. The Fighting Tigers are 7-9 overall.

Chillicothe went up 1-0 in the second inning thanks to three Ironton errors and a hit batsman.

The Cavaliers scored two in the top of the third on an RBI double by Nathaniel Moccabee and a run-scoring single by Zach Glendening.

Ironton got a one-out solo home run from Chad Miller for its first run in the bottom of the inning. The second run scored on a hit by Tanner Reed, a walk to Nick Lewis, and singles by Jeremy Moore and Wes Runyon.

Chillicothe came back with three runs in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Cody Speakman and a two-run double by Michael Dennis.

But Ironton answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 6-6.

With two outs, Miller walked and stole second and third. T.J. Keith walked and stole second base. A passed ball scored Miller and sent to third.

Reed’s base hit drove in Keith, Lewis singled and Moore drilled a two-run double.

Ironton had six hits over the final three innings along with a walk but failed to score.

That wasn’t the case for Chillicothe who took advantage of two more Ironton errors.

Glendening doubled to open the fifth and Marty Dunn and Alex Grow singled for the go-ahead run. An error more the runners up and Speakman hit a sacrifice fly.

In the sixth, a walk, a single by Glendening and a sacrifice fly by Dunn made it 9-6.

The final two runs scored in the seventh inning when Grow doubled, Moccabee singled and Dennis reached on an error.

Moore was 3-3, Reed 3-5, Runyon 2-3 and Miller 2-4 to lead Ironton’s 14-hit attack.

In the suspended game, Ironton scored twice in the top of the eighth inning to win 9-7.

With one out, David Bridges singled and scored on a double by Nick Lewis. An out later, Tanner Reed doubled home an insurance run.

Ironton is at Wheelersburg Thursday and hosts Jackson Friday.

Chllicothe0123212=11130

Ironton0024000=6146

Seth Dawes and Zach Glendening. Greg Kettel, Alfred Parece (3), Wes Runyon (6) and Tanner Reed. W-Dawes (7-K, 5-BB). L-Parece. 2B-Chillicothe: Seth Dawes, Nathaniel Moccabee, Michael Dennis, Zach Glendening; Ironton: Jeremy Moore. HR-Ironton: Chad Miller. Hitting-Chillicothe: Marty Dunn 1-4, Grow 1-4, Seth Dawes 4-5, Cody Speakman 1-4, Nate Moccabee 2-4, Michael Dennis 1-5, Zach Glendening 3-3; Ironton: Chad Miller 2-4, Tanner Reed 3-5, Nick Lewis 2-3, Jeremy Moore 3-3, Wes Runyon 2-3, David Bridges 1-3, Byron Brammer 1-4.

Suspended Game

Ironton12004002=9121

Chillicothe10510000=796

Howie Lucas, Greg Kettel (4) and Tanner Reed. Derrick Webb, Aaron Dixon (5) and Seth Dawes. W-Kettel (7-K, 4-BB). L-Dixon. 2B-Ironton: T.J. Keith, Chad Miller, Jeremy Moore; Chillicothe: Seth Dawes, Detty. Sac-Ironton: Wes Runyon; Chillicothe: Mike Dennis. Hitting-Ironton: Chad Miller 2-4; T.J. Keith 1-4, David Bridges 2-4, Nick Lewis 1-5, Jeremy Moore 2-4; Tanner Reed 3-5, Josh Pancake 1-3; Chillicothe: Alex Grow 1-2, Seth Dawes 1-3, Nathanael Moccabee 3-4, Detty 1-2, Mike Dennis 1-2.