The Austin Greyhounds couldn’t survive a tough fifth inning as they lost to the Savage Outlaws 5-4 Friday night at Marcusen Park.

The Hounds (11-14 overall) had runners on first and second with one out after a double by Craig Braaten and walk by Matt Raso in the ninth, but Tyler Leopold lined out to second base, and Dan Zielke flew out to deep center field to enter the game.

“If Zielke pulls that, it’s out of the park,” Austin manager John Frein said.

In the eighth, the Hounds had runners on second and third with one out after a double by Dave Meyer. Clint Ripley struck out, Nick Rohne walked, and Mitch Kaplan grounded out to end the frame.

The Outlaws (23-15 overall) scored five unearned runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.

Savage had no outs and nobody on when Frein couldn’t field a grounder to put Dave Veduzro on first. After a single by Tyler Peterson, the Outlaws pulled a double steal where they were willing to concede an out and the inning at second to make it 4-1.

But Frein threw home to get the lead runner and his throw went wild.

“I should’ve just gotten the out, but I tried to do too much,” Frein said. “Then they had a good rally where they took advantage.”

Savage responded with a two-run homer by Ben Braaten, and a pair of run-scoring singles by John Means and Evan Walker.

The Hounds did all of their damage early as they scored in the first on a two-out run scoring single by Raso. In the second they scored on a wild pitch and a single by Rohne, but left the bases loaded.

In the fourth, Braaten had a run scoring double.

“We actually hit well against a good pitcher with a good slider. We had some clutch hits,” Frein said.

The Hounds will play at the Rochester Royals Saturday at 6 p.m. Meyer will start on the hill.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

Savage 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 8 1

Hounds 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 8 2

Hounds pitching: Pete Korfhage (L), 9 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 5 R, 0 ER, 5 K, 2 HBP

Hounds hitting: Nick Rohne, 1-for-4, RBI, SB, BB; Tim Kaplan, 1-for-4, R, SB, BB; Craig Braaten, 3-for-5, 2 doubles, RBI; Matt Cano, 2-for-4, BB; Matt Raso, 1-for-4, RBI, BB; Tyler Leopold, 0-for-5; Dan Zielke, 1-for-3, double, R, BB; Dave Meyer, 2-for-4, double, R; John Frein, 0-for-3; Clint Ripley, 0-for-1

Savage pitching: Travis Pugliese (W), 7 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 R, 3 ER, 9 K, HBP

Savage hitting: Tyler Peterson, 2-for-3, BB; Ben Braaten, 3-for-5, HR, 2 RBIs, R; Tony Peterson, 1-for-4; John Means, 1-for-3, RBI; Zach Harazin, 0-for-3, 2 BBs; Evan Walker, 1-for-4, RBI; Pat Abbe, 1-for-4, double; Chris Steenberg, 0-for-3, BB; Dave Verduzro, 0-for-3