BIDDEFORD — On a day when hits were hard to come by and base runners precious, three key Massabesic errors, one questionable call and a dominant performance from starter Patrick Wilson were enough to send the Biddeford baseball team to a 3-0 victory on Saturday at St. Louis Field.

After the Mustangs were denied the opening run in the top of the third inning on a disputed call at second base, the Tigers took advantage of back-to-back errors by Massabesic third baseman Weston Bergeron to score twice in the bottom of the fourth for the deciding runs.

For a team that hasn’t had the breaks of the game go its way much this season, it was a nice two-inning stretch for Biddeford (4-8) coach Keith Leblanc.

“We’ve been on the wrong end of quite a few breaks this year, so it was nice to get one,” Leblanc said. “But I always tell the guys (you) kind of make your own luck. If you put the ball in play and hustle, good things will happen, and today it was the same thing.

“A call or an inch here and there and that’s the difference in a game.”

Thanks to another error, the Tigers added an insurance run in the sixth. It was more than enough for Wilson, who mixed in a changeup with his fastball and big 12-6 curveball to give up just one hit ”“ a first inning single by Brian Wardwell ”“ in the complete-game shutout for his first win of the season.

“I was just trying to work ahead in the count and trying to throw first-pitch strikes,” Wilson said. “I’ve (been) struggling most of the year with that, so I really tried to focus on throwing that first-pitch strike to keep them off-balance.

“I worked in the changeup a little bit and got a couple big outs. I usually don’t throw the changeup too much, but all my pitches were on today.”

On the other side, Massabesic (2-10) starter Sean Adams was nearly as good, allowing just four hits in six innings of work. But Adams was let down by his defense and lack of offense as the Mustangs fell to their eighth defeat of the season by three runs or less.

“We got good pitching and couldn’t put it together with some offense,” Massabesic coach Jeff Cessario said. “Three errors and zero earned runs, again.”

It looked like it would be Biddeford errors leading to Massabesic taking the lead in the third, when a pair of errors and Wilson’s only walk of the day loaded the bases with two outs.

Adams proceeded to bounce a grounder to third that Bryan Gelinas fumbled, forcing him to rush a high throw to second that seemed to take second baseman Brady Fleurent off the bag.

But that’s not the way the umpire saw it, calling the runner out to end the inning despite the protests of Cessario.

“He was clearly off the base,” Cessario said. “The second baseman jumped off the base a foot and a half to catch the ball and the umpire just missed it, which cost us a run. It changes the complexion of the game because we’d have had a lead. It’s unfortunate, but that’s not the only thing that lost the game.”

“It’s always nice to get a couple breaks,” added a smiling Wilson. “We’ve had a couple against us, and the umps were in our favor today, for sure.”

With the game still deadlocked, Fleurent led off the fourth with a double for Biddeford’s first hit of the game. Wilson followed with a fly out, but a Corey Brown grounder ate up Bergeron at third to give the Tigers runners at the corners.

After Brown stole second, the ball found Bergeron again off the bat of Gelinas and the freshman third baseman sent his throw to first wide, allowing Fleurent and Brown to cross the plate for a 2-0 Biddeford lead.

Wilson sent down the Massabesic side in order in both the fifth and sixth and got some added insurance in the bottom of the sixth, when Gelinas reached on a Casey Nava throwing error at shortstop and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches, scoring on a Matt Cote two-out, two-strike double to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

“It’s nice to get that extra run just for insurance, in case anything happens,” Wilson said. “It was definitely a clutch hit.”

Not that he’d need it, with Wilson forcing two pop ups and getting his sixth strikeout of the game in the seventh as the right hander closed by retiring the last 10 Mustang batters he faced.

It was Biddeford’s second win in a row following a 6-0 win over Noble last Thursday, and the Tigers will have another big one at St. Louis on Tuesday when 4-7 Sanford comes to town for what could be a crucial playoff positioner.

“Those teams that are close to us in the Heal points, you’ve got to beat those teams,” Leblanc said. “You’ve got to take care of your business when that time comes.”

— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 323.