SAUK CITY — He struck out nine batters, and he allowed only four hits — not the kind of pitching performance that usually ends with a loss.

But Jake Overlien made two critical mistakes Wednesday night, and it cost the Baraboo senior American Legion pitcher and his Post 26 teammates in a big way.

Overlien hit pinch hitter Dustin Sliter to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, and he bounced a wild pitch to the backstop one batter later that allowed Mike Gorsuch to sprint in for the winning run to give Sauk Prairie a 3-2 victory at Sauk City Athletic Field.

"Jake pitched another incredible game,"Baraboo manager Tim Luger said. "He’s just been a hard-luck loser all year long.

"He’s had tough, tough games — not a lot of defense played behind him — and tonight was just another example of how you pitch a great game, and things just don’t go your way."

In fact, an error by shortstop Mark Kowalke — the second of the game for Kowalke, who Luger said has "played some great defense" and is "usually incredibly reliable" — allowed Thomas Seiler to reach to start the inning.

Seiler was later thrown out at third on a sacrifice bunt attempt for the first out. But with two runners still on base, Overlien couldn’t escape the jam.

It wasn’t all bad for Kowalke, though. He belted a second-inning home run to left field to give Baraboo an early 1-0 lead.

But Sauk Prairie responded with two in the third. The first came on a bloop single by Peters, and the second when Kowalke lost his footing and bobbled a hard-hit grounder by Charles Meixelsperger that allowed Travis Steuber to score from third on a ball that might have otherwise been an inning-ending double play.

Baraboo tied the game in the sixth when Jon Schlender scored on a sac fly hit to foul territory in deep left by Sam Seymour.

But Baraboo only notched five hits — all by Kowalke and Nathan Murphy — off Sauk Prairie starter Lucas Herbrand, who Luger said kept his team off balance with off-speed pitches.

"He threw well, he was around the plate all night long and he mixed it up," Luger said. "(But) he was a little bit slower than what we were used to seeing the last week or so of play, so we just couldn’t hit him that hard."

Baraboo returns to the diamond on Sunday at Mary Rountree Evans Field in a double header against La Crosse Central. The opener is slated for 1 p.m.