AUBURN - The baseball is round, the bat is round, and the Maroons, apparently, are flat. Well, their offense anyways.

The only consistency with the Auburn baseball team this season has been inconsistency. The Maroons' latest struggles have occurred in the batter's box, a fact that's difficult to believe considering the Auburn lineup contains very few holes.

The hitting slump continued Monday, as the Maroons managed only three hits in a 10-2 loss to Fayetteville-Manlius at Falcon Park.

“We took (batting practice) before the game and the kids are swinging some good bats,” Auburn coach Ed Gremli said. “That's the frustrating thing; we know we can hit the ball. I think we may be putting too much pressure on ourselves.”

The Hornets' lefty starter, Cory Nelson, kept the Maroons off balance all game, painting the corners with his fastball and buckling some knees with a sweeping curve.

“He was definitely in command,” Gremli said of Nelson. “He was throwing some good pitches. I think our guys were just waiting for someone to step up.”

Ryan Gleason, Kurt Handley and Dave Shellhammer picked up the only hits for the Maroons. Most importantly, the Auburn No. 3, 4, and 5 hitters combined to go 0-for-7 with three strikeouts.

“The dugout was quiet today,” Auburn clean-up hitter Zach Prentice said. “It was just one of those days where everybody comes out flat. It seems like nobody's on the same page. I don't know what it is, one day we're good the next we can't hit.”

Auburn's offense was sluggish, but the defense didn't help, either. The Maroons committed two errors in the third inning and two in the fourth inning, leading to three unearned runs. Auburn starter Nolan Mahaney threw 3 1-3 innings, allowing five runs - three earned - and five hits.

“When I took Nolan out there's no way the score should have been 4-0,” Gremli said. “He was struggling a bit getting the ball over the plate, but the defense didn't help out. I thought we had some good pitching today, we just made our guys throw more pitches than they needed to.”

Shellhammer pitched in relief of Mahaney and was cruising until the fifth inning when he allowed three straight singles leading to five F-M runs. Dan Evans came in with two outs in the sixth and got a big flyout to centerfield with runners in scoring position. Evans didn't allow a hit in 1 1-3 inning pitched.

Both of Auburn's runs came in the fifth inning. Shellhammer tripled to right field and scored on a Greg Feocco RBI groundout. Gleason reached on an error and later scored on a wild pitch. The Maroons threatened later in the inning, but the Hornets centerfielder Dave Ruppert made a diving catch to rob Dan Zambito of an extra-base hit that would have brought in at least one run.

The Maroons (5-10, 3-6) now have to win four of their final seven games to make the Section III playoffs. Auburn can add a number in the win column today and it might not even take that long.

Henninger comes to Falcon Park at 4:30 p.m. today to continue a game that was suspended earlier in the season. The game will pick up tied 0-0 in the top of the 10th inning.

“Most of the pressure is on Henninger,” Prentice said. “We're batting in the bottom of the order and have our (No.) 3, 4 and 5 guys coming up.”

Gremli, who will send Kurt Handley to the mound to start the 10th, has a distinct game plan.

“Basically I'd like us to go 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th,” he said. “We just need to get one guy on in the bottom of the inning and if I have to sacrifice him over I will. Hopefully we've got an RBI single saved up for just that occasion.”

It'll be difficult for the Maroons to not press in the do-or-die situation, but the players remain confident someone will step up and steal a victory from the Black Knights.

“It's a long bus ride in Henninger,” Prentice said. “We want to send them home unhappy.”