SANFORD — The Sanford Mainers made the most out of their offensive output Wednesday night.

Limited to only three hits, the Mainers still managed to score five times, but it wasn’t enough as the Holyoke Blue Sox emerged with a 6-5 victory in a New England Collegiate Baseball League game played at Goodall Park.

“We didn’t do a lot of things offensively, but we tried,” said Sanford shortstop Mark Weist. “It was the first time seeing live pitching for us in a couple of days (as a result of rainouts), and we couldn’t shake the rust out. We knew we weren’t hitting the ball very well so we tried to do some other things on the base paths.”

The Blue Sox (7-8) opened the scoring with a run in the second inning as Connor McKay delivered a run-scoring single to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Holyoke added two more in the fifth. Paul McConkey pushed home the first run with a double, and Max Pentecost followed with an RBI single to give the Blue Sox a 3-0 advantage.

The best example of the Mainers manufacturing runs came in the fifth inning when they scored three times without registering a hit to tie the game at 3-3. After allowing only one hit through the first four innings, Holyoke starter Drew Duncan ran into control problems. A walk, two hit batters and a throwing error, combined with three wild pitches, delivered three runs to even the score at 3-3.

“I think there was two key plays that inning,” said Mainers head coach Aaron Izaryk. “Weist taking third (on a pitch that bounced away from the catcher) and forcing their defense to throw the ball away and (Will) Cooper going first to third on a wild pitch.

“Those hustle plays tell you a lot about a team, and sometimes that’s what it takes to get out of a slump. Seeing guys hustle like that and seeing guys playing hard is what it’s all about. If we get more of that we’ll be all right.”

The Blue Sox restored their lead in the sixth. Connor Spencer led off the inning with a double, and McKay followed with his second run-scoring single of the game to put Holyoke up 4-3.

The Mainers gained their first lead of the game in their half of the sixth. Ino Patron began the inning by reaching on an error and Duncan followed by hitting Jordan Hagel to end his evening. A pinch-hit single by Anthony Hajjar tied the game at 4-4, and Gavin Stark’s ground out scored another to give Sanford a 5-4 lead.

Holyoke answered with two of its own in the seventh. Sanford reliever Matt Horan (0-2) retired the first two men he faced in the inning before surrendering two singles and a two-run double by Spencer to give the Blue Sox a 6-5 lead.

“We were in a good spot,” said Izaryk. “We were up in the seventh and that’s where we want to be. We want a lead in the seventh and the pitchers take care of it. They got a big hit. Matt Horan came out well and threw the ball well, but one of his fastballs got touched up. One pitch doesn’t make a ball game, but in that case, that was the one that put us behind and we never got back on top.”

Kody Kerski (1-0) posted the win in relief for Holyoke. He allowed two hits in three shutout innings.

Sanford will play its next five games on the road before returning home July 6 against the Mystic Schooners in a 6:30 p.m. start at Goodall Park.

— Contact Mark Jeanneret at 282-1535, Ext. 323.