NATCHEZ — A short-staffed Cathedral softball team fell to University Academy 7-4 Thursday afternoon.

With two starters on the road to play in a soccer contest and starter Marty Lewis nursing an ankle injury, Cathedral started multiple eighth graders and one seventh grader against the Lions in the loss.

“I’m pleased with the way we played,” Blackwell said. “We made a lot of errors, but we were playing a lot of young players. We were shuffling girls around positions.”

Cathedral’s Elizabeth Smith fanned six and allowed six hits through seven innings, but four Lady Wave errors extended innings and allowed scoring opportunities for University Academy.

“Elizabeth did a fine job,” Blackwell said. “We just made too many errors. She did a good enough job that we could’ve won.”

In the second inning, an error allowed Jade Swafford on base with two outs, allowing Lauren Rachal to knock her in and give the Lions a 3-1 advantage.

Cathedral bounced back in the bottom of the inning, though, as Baylee Granning singled and Emily Rasco hit a two-RBI double to notch the game at 3. Rasco scored on a passed ball to give Cathedral a 4-3 advantage.

The lead was short-lived, however, as University Academy regained the lead in the fifth when two errors gave the Lions two runs.

Blackwell said it had been several years since he’s played that many young players, and the lack of experience cost his team Thursday.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve played that many young players, maybe six or seven years,” Blackwell said.

Following the loss, Cathedral fell to 3-3 on the season, and look to get back to a winning record this weekend as the team travels to take on three opponents in Parklane’s tournament Saturday.

Blackwell said as long as he can get all of his starters to play, the Lady Wave will be just fine moving forward.

“If we can get our whole crew here, it’s going to be alright,” Blackwell said. “When you don’t have your starters here, it just makes it rough.”