The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots battled back to take a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning, only to see it slip away in a 7-6 loss to Autauga Academy on Tuesday afternoon.

The Patriots entered the seventh inning trailing by one run. They battled back to take a two-run lead before allowing the Generals to win in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the inning.

Chandler Golden got the start for the Patriots on Tuesday night. Golden pitched 5.1 innings and allowed three total runs, two of which were earned on four hits and three walks, he struck out five batters. Jade Sikes pitched one inning and allowed three earned runs and four total runs on four hits.

The Patriots finished with nine hits in the loss. Davis Allen finished 3-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, while Tristan Carter finished 2-3 with two RBI. Cody Hollis, Sikes, Max Copeland, and Trevor Barron all had one hit.

The Patriots jumped on the board in the first inning when Tristan Carter doubled on a line drive to center field, driving in Allen.

Autauga scored a run in both the bottom of the first and second innings to take a 2-1 lead. The Patriots answered with two runs in the third to reclaim the lead. Allen singled on a hard ground ball to right to score Javon Christian and Carter doubled to center, driving in Allen.

After two scoreless innings, Autauga regained the lead when they scored two runs in the sixth.  Both runs came across to score on a double to left field.

Down by one entering the seventh, the Patriots extended the game briefly with three runs.

Cody Hollis tied the game with a single to center field to score Copeland and Golden gave the Patriots a brief lead when he reached on an error that allowed Allen and Sikes score, giving the Patriots a 6-4 lead.

The Generals had their first two batters reach in the bottom of the seventh via a single and a walk. Following a sacrifice bunt, the Generals had back-to-back doubles to seal the victory.

The Patriots will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to take on Northside Methodist in area play.