The North Alabama baseball team faced off in mid-week action in Florence March 21 against the Auburn-Montgomery Warhawks for the second time this season.

The Lions sought to avenge a 9-8 loss at Montgomery Feb. 22, but lost the second contest 7-1. The loss drops UNA’s record to 16-10.

The Lions struggled at the plate, but saw a solid performance from sophomore infielder Davis Elliot who went two for three with a double and walk.

“We’re just trying to focus up one through nine,” Elliott said. “We just want to have good approaches and at bats whenever we’re at the plate and get runners in when they get on.”

Elliott moves around in the lineup and plays a variety of positions for the Lions. The sophomore batted in the two-hole against AUM, the spot he has batted in most of the season, while starting at second base before switching to third base halfway through the game.

“I feel really comfortable wherever (head) coach (Mike) Keehn puts me, and he thinks I can get my job done to help the team,” Elliot said. “Last year I started a lot of games at third, so I feel comfortable there. But I moved to second this year, so I feel good about anywhere they put me.”

Keehn said he was underwhelmed with the team’s performance at the plate, but also recognized how well the Warhawks played.

“We hit some balls hard right at him and they didn’t make a mistake,” Keehn said. “They played very well. They forced us to swing, and when the wind changed direction it changed the conditions and the way the ball carried. They basically out-played us, and we threw some balls away early in the game. We need to get better on that.

The loss comes before UNA travels to Columbus, Mississippi, to face the second place team in the Gulf South Conference, Delta State.

“We didn’t make the plays we needed to make, didn’t score runs and we’re really just not playing well mid-week,” Keehn said. “It’s frustrating to me that we don’t play well in these games, but now this is over, and we’ve got to take our attention to Delta State and play really well this weekend.”