The LaGrange Gators’ struggles at the plate continued in a 9-0 Acadiana District 3-5A victory Friday at Legion FIeld.

It was the third consecutive loss and fifth in the six games for the Gators (7-15, 3-7), who have managed three runs in their last three games. LaGrange is 6-3 when scoring more than four runs, but 1-11 with it struggles to push runs across the plate.

“It is just the district that we play in,” LaGrange head coach Rodney Lloyd said. “You are going to see good pitching, and if you don’t hit the ball, you really don’t have a shot in the district.”

The Gators were not without their opportunities. Twice they got a leadoff runner on base, but baserunning mistakes proved costly.

“We made some baserunning errors that didn’t help us out at all,” Lloyd said. “We would get somebody on without any outs and then we get doubled up and just different little things happened today.

“It was errors on our part. We couldn’t really get anything going.”

Down 2-0, Jahmal Wilridge, who had two of LaGrange’s three hits, led off the fourth inning with a single to left-center field. But Colton Frank hit a line drive to Acadiana third baseman Hunter Tabb, who promptly turned a double play after doubling up Wilridge a first base.

Trailing Acadiana 4-0 in the fifth inning, Jalen Dobson ripped a double down the left-field line, but got caught in a rundown trying to advance on a ground ball hit to Tabb by Taylor Nash.

Despite the struggles, Lloyd said he thinks the Gators, who were ranked 35th in Tuesday’s Louisiana High School Athletic Association power rankings, need one win to get into the playoffs.

Acadiana (20-8, 5-4) is the hottest team in District 3-5A, winning six straight, and it showed early.

Cole Romero, who went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, hit a leadoff single to left field. Frank got a pair of Rams to pop up for two outs, but JuJuan Franklin launched a laser over the leftfield wall that stayed just right of the foul pole for a two-run home run.

Frank pitched three scoreless inning after the Gators fell behind 2-0, but the Rams added seven runs on seven hits over the final three innings while the Gators committed three errors.

Acadiana’s biggest inning was the seventh, when it scored four runs, including a two-run pinch-hit single by Blake Benoit, who was later thrown at home by left fielder Javier Lopez trying to score on Romero’s fourth hit.

Seth Trahan got the win by pitching a complete with six strikeouts and one walk. Frank took the loss, allowing nine runs — five earned — on 10 hits with one strikeout and five walks.