LAKEWOOD — Lakewood senior pitcher Jordan Stauffer threw a two-hitter in a full seven-inning effort, but it wasn’t enough to give the Cougars a sweep of their series against South Whidbey.

Stauffer struck out 10, but South Whidbey’s Nick Tenuta hit a solo home run to kick off the third inning, giving the Falcons all the offense they needed for a 1-0 win April 10.

“We started out shaky against Archbishop Murphy (in our first series), but things got better,” said Lakewood coach Larry Delaney. “Today we took a step back.”

Even though Lakewood outhit South Whidbey — Andrew Campbell and designated hitter Freddy Perez were both 2-for-3 at bat — they couldn’t capitalize on their on-base opportunities. Lakewood had runners in advantageous position in the first and fifth innings, according to the coach, but ran themselves out.

It was a sharp contrast to their performance in the first two games of the series.

“The things that we did right. We came off two games where we jumped out, scored early, got our bunts down and things were going well for us,” Delaney said.

In their 15-8 game-one win, Lakewood scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first, giving them a big advantage for the next six innings. In their 9-5 win for game two at South Whidbey, the Cougars came back from 3-2 in the third inning to score five runs in the top of the sixth.

“All around, we’ve played good defensively,” Delaney added. “Hopefully this is a blip on the radar.”