Oran's Steven Dooley tries to reach first base while New Madrid County Central catcher Matt Carter throws to first. Dooley was called out on the play. (Josh Mills/Standard Democrat) [Click to enlarge]

NEW MADRID -- The Oran Eagles dropped their second straight contest on Thursday evening as the New Madrid County Central Eagles defended their home turf, winning by a final score of 4-3 in eight innings.

For the home team, Kyle Marshall was solid on the mound for all eight innings. Marshall picked up the win by allowing three earned runs on four hits and one walk. He also recorded 13 strikeouts in the victory.

The visiting Eagles jumped out on top in the top of the first as Kody Campbell scored the first run. Oran scored one more in the top of the third as Tyler Beardslee jumped on a pitch taking Marshall deep and out for a home run.

NMCC matched the two runs in the bottom of the third as Dylan Harris broke out the long ball taking starter Steven Dooley deep for a two-run home run.

The home team went out on top 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth as Clint Tanner led off the inning with a double deep in the gap in left center field.

Dooley knotted the score at three all in the top of the sixth as he scored on a wild pitch from Marshall.

After seven innings of play, the game was deadlocked at 3-3 and in the top of the eighth Oran went in order as Zach Chasteen struck out, followed by a fly-out from Beardslee and another strikeout of Dooley.

With the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 hitters due up in the bottom of the eighth for NMCC, the home team hoped to get the job done for the victory.

Sean Thomason led off the inning and reached on a throwing error. Thomason was then advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Rusty Clark, then advanced one more base on a passed ball.

Matt Carter then walked bringing up Matt Williams who wrapped things up by knocking a sacrifice fly deep enough in center field to bring in Thomason for the game winning run.

"My hat is off to Kyle Marshall,"said NMCC head coach John Jones after the game. "He pitched a heck of a ball game. He stayed ahead in the count and his breaking ball was there. He battled so hard today. His defense was there behind him with good support. It was probably the best game we've played all year."

"Our defense stepped up," he went on to say. "It was a complete game hitting-wise when we needed it, and pitching-wise for sure."

Leading the way offensively for the home team was Harris, Marshall, Tanner and Josh St. Mary. Each of the four NMCC batters had one hit in the contest. Harris' hit was a home run and Tanner's was a double. Harris finished the game with three RBI.

Oran head coach Mitch Wood said that his club is missing Caleb Seyer more than he'd imagined. Seyer is out due to an injury to his throwing hand that he received in the Stoutland Tournament.

"We're not playing very well without him," said Wood after the loss. "We're just not coming out and playing baseball right now. We've got kids loafing around a little bit. We're just not doing what we know how to do.

"We're just struggling a little bit, but hopefully we'll get through it," he added. "Maybe we can get some things rolling a little bit. We're going to keep plugging and keep showing up."

Alex Chasteen was charged with the loss, as he threw three innings giving up one run which wasn't earned. Chasteen allowed three walks and struck out three in the loss.

At the plate, Beardslee led the way going 2-for-4 with a single, a home run, a run scored and an RBI. Alex Chasteen and Jayden Pobst both went 1-for-3 with a single apiece.

NMCC, now 4-9 on the season, will be at home on Tuesday afternoon to face the Dexter Bearcats. The make-up game will decide the regular season SEMO Conference champion as the Bearcats are one game ahead of Notre Dame and Jackson.

Oran, 15-3, will try to bounce back to the win column today as they travel down the road to Chaffee to face the Red Devils.