It was a tale of two very different games for the College of the Redwoods men in their conference openers against Lassen in baseball over the weekend.

CR hosted the Cougars for a pair of games at Belotti Field on Saturday and lost both, but game one was, in the words of CR head coach John Downey, “an absolute dog fight” with just one run separating the two teams in a high-scoring affair.

Redwoods dropped the opener 10-9 and came out flat in game two, losing 10-1.

The two teams were tied 7-7 going into the eighth inning of game one.

Lassen scored three times in the top of the eighth, before the home team responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, and neither was able to add its tally in the ninth.

“It was an absolute dog fight in game one that I’m proud of our guys for competing in,” Downey said. “Ultimately some unfortunate errors hurt us and lost the game for us.”

The Redwoods defense committed four errors in the loss, but there was no lack of offense, with both teams combining for 28 hits, including 12 by the home team.

Addison Guber and Hunter Stockinger led Redwoods at the plate and each finished 3-for-5, with Guber driving in three runs.

Xavier La Pena and Tyson Bragg each added two hits in the loss, with La Pena also walking twice and scoring twice.

Drew Franklin pitched six innings for a no-decision, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits and a walk and striking out six.

Tristen Valenzuela took the loss in relief.

Despite the loss, Downey liked a lot of what he saw.

“We are really seeing glimpses of how good we can be,” he said. “The future is still bright for this season.”

Game two wasn’t as close, with five Redwoods errors marring the performance.

“A big letdown of an effort after what was a great game one,” Downey said. “Errors continued to plague us here.

“Again, the future is bright for this team. By no means is this season over. There’s still a ton of confidence in that clubhouse that we can be in a good spot for the season.”

With the two losses, CR dropped to 0-2 in the GVC and 2-13 overall.

Lasen improved to 2-0 and 11-6.

Redwoods will continue conference play in a three-game series at home against Feather River later this week.

The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday, beginning at noon, followed by a single game on Saturday at noon.