ESCANABA — A late comeback wasn’t quite enough for the Eskymos Eskymos here Monday as they dropped a 4-3 baseball decision to Peshtigo, Wis.

Esky left the bases loaded in the sixth inning of a non-conference contest, which was to be part of a doubleheader at Al Ness Field.

The second game got rained out.

The Eskymos (4-3) trailed 4-0 going into their half of this sixth inning.

Ben Johnson led off their sixth with an infield single, then scored on a bases-loaded walk to Jarret Olsen.

Matt Zimmerman plated Esky’s second run on a wild pitch, and Tony Derkos made it 4-3 on a bases-loaded walk to Jarret Olsen.

“We made it a game,” said Esky coach Scott Hanson. “It was a miserable day for baseball, although both teams had to play in it. They made two great plays in the outfield, which was probably the difference.”

The Bulldogs (3-5) opened the scoring on Landon Lemke’s double to left field in the third, then took advantage of an error and two wild pitches while scoring twice in the fourth.

“We had a real bad collision Saturday (in a loss to Green Bay Southwest) and were missing two starters,” said Peshtigo coach Neal Hennigillis. “We had guys playing different positions. We had kind of a rough start and had been striking out a lot. We’ve been playing a lot of small ball and just wanted the guys to put the ball in play.”

Trevor Marquardt led the Bulldogs with two hits. Johnson and Scott Hiller, grandson to Detroit Tigers great John Hiller, had two apiece for the Eskymos. Both teams had six hits.

Senior Will Boettcher, who pitched 5 1/3 innings, took the win. He struck out six, walked three and gave up three runs on five hits. Classmate Jake Borth fanned two and allowed one hit in relief.

“Our starter got a little tired in the end,” said Hennigillis. “I think the elements got to him in the end. I thought their starter also threw well. Their guys hit the ball better than the score shows. We just wanted our guys to play better and today was probably our most complete game.”

Johnson worked four frames and absorbed the loss.

He fanned three, walked four and allowed four runs on six hits. Hiller retired six of the seven hitters he faced in relief.

“I thought Ben did okay,” said Hanson. “He was having a hard time with the ball. Their kids made some plays, and our catcher (Chase Cloutier) has been throwing out a few players on the bases lately.

Cloutier helped prevent further damage in the fourth by throwing out two baserunners attempting to steal second.

The Eskymos host Kingsford in a single game Wednesday at 5 p.m. Peshtigo hosts Fish Creek, Wis. Gibraltar Thursday.