The Carson Cardinals were there own worst enemy in a 13-4 loss to Merced Community College on Friday at Ron McNutt Field.
Merced took advantage of four walks and four errors to take a 5-0 lead after four innings. Starting pitcher Ryan Henry was the victim of the bad luck as he lasted 4 2/3 innings. The Cardinals did receive a strong effort from Wes Osmer, who allowed two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings.
After Merced took a 1-0 lead in the first, Tony Teixeira caught a runner trying to steal second to end the inning. But Merced scored two runs without a hit in the third on the strength of two walks and an error.
Two straight dropped popups and a throwing error led to a two-run double that gave Merced a 5-0 lead in the fourth. A flyball that should have been caught, but landed for a single and a bloop single led to a 6-run rally in the fifth that gave Merced an 11-0 lead.
Carson scored in the eighth when Nick Shine scored on an error after Logan Parsley singled. In the ninth, David Nelsen had an RBI single, Danny Rotter had an RBI double and Nelsen scored on a fielder's choice for the final margin.
Parsley had two hits, Andrew James and Jeff Hurzel each doubled and Shine and Royal Good each singled.
