Errors ruined for the St. Joseph Mustangs what was shaping up to be a pitchers’ duel against the Chillicothe Mudcats.

The Mustangs (20-10, 16-9 MINK) and the Mudcats (17-9, 14-8) were scoreless heading into the bottom of the sixthinning, until two costly back-to-back errors by two different Mustangs players gave the Mudcats the first lead of the game and an eventual 5-0 win.

The Mudcats’ Brett Sowers — hitting out of the cleanup spot — laid down an unusual bunt, right back to the pitcher for what seemed like a routine out. But first basemen Brent Seifert bobbled the throw, allowing Justin Schultz to score from third, giving the Mudcats a 1-0 lead. Immediately following the first error, Chillicothe’s Kyle Standridge bunted directly to starting Mustangs pitcher Zach Devalle, who then threw it over the catcher’s head, handing the Mudcats two more runs for a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning.

“That three-run inning really hurt,” Mustangs manager Matt Johnson said. “We had a bunt situation where we didn’t execute very well and did some things we normally don’t do. When you give a team like Chillicothe a break like that, they’re going to capitalize.”

Mudcats starter Tyler Minto (5-1) finished the game with nine strikeouts and still has not allowed a run at home this year. St. Joseph’s Zach Devalle falls to 2-1 in his fifth start of the season.

“(Minto) is a good pitcher, and we didn’t do anything to change it, either.” Johnson said. “We didn’t change our approach, and we let him get ahead in the count.”

Tony Nix of the Mudcats drove in the final two runs of the game with a two-RBI single to deep center field in the bottom of the seventh, at which point the Mustangs brought in Dominic Marchesi to finish out the game.

The Mustangs tried to put together a small rally in the top of the ninth against reliever Scott Limbocker when they loaded the bases for Ryan Hook. But Hook hit into a 5-4-3 game-ending double play.

The Mustangs are off tonight, but will travel to Topeka, Kan., on Tuesday night to play the Topeka Golden Giants in another MINK League game.

Sports reporter Travis Hartman can be reached

at npsports@npgco.com

Sports reporter Rick Dunaway contributed to this story. He can be reached at rickd@npgco.com