Central starter Cory Huskey threw three strong innings for the Tigers in a five-inning start Tuesday at Notre Dame.

Unfortunately for the Tigers (1-4), in the second and fourth inning Huskey's control got away from him, and so did the game. Notre Dame (7-2) scored one run in the second and four in the fourth, with the help of five walks and an error, and held on for a 5-4 win.

"We didn't play terrible," Central coach Steve Williams said. "We played hard, and we were into the game. We just made too many mistakes. We walked seven and made three errors. Against a good team those are hard to overcome."

Notre Dame's two scoring innings both started out well for the Tigers. In both innings Huskey was able to retire the first two batters before his troubles began.

"You can't make mistakes like that because that's what beats you," Williams said.

Notre Dame scored a run in the second off three walks and an error. In the fourth inning, Notre Dame scored on a wild pitch and took advantage of a Huskey balk.

Notre Dame's starting pitcher Blake Urhahn struck the big blow, knocking in two with a double after the runners moved to second and third on Huskey's balk. Urhahn moved to second on a Tony Longman single and scored the winning run when Longman got in a run down after being caught off first on a pickoff throw.

"That's a thing we practice very little, but when you do spend some time on it you hope it sinks in," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said of the run down.

After laboring through the first three innings, Urhahn struck out two in the fourth, and then used the momentum of his two-RBI double in the bottom half of the inning to give his team two more strong innings on the mound.

"It gave me some confidence going out to the mound," Urhahn said of his double.

In the sixth inning, Urhahn walked the first batter, who went to second with nobody out, but he struck out the next three batters looking.

"In that situation with the tying run on second base you've got to make sure if the ball is close at all you've got to swing the bat," Williams said. "Two ground balls and that's a run."

Lee Essner relieved Urhahn in the seventh and pitched around a two-out single from Patrick Slattery for his second save in three games.

"Lee's the type of guy that can throw every day," Graviett said.

Neither team did much offensively, with Central outhitting Notre Dame 8-7. Slattery continued his torrid pace with a 4-for-4 day, including a double and two RBIs. Tyler Blackwell added two hits for Central.

"We're getting better," Williams said. "We're 1-4, but we're getting better."

Notre Dame has won six straight since starting the season 1-2. The win was also Notre Dame's second straight one-run win.

"Any time you can find a way to win it helps build your team," Graviett said.

Notre Dame 5, Central 4

Central 103 000 0 -- 5 8 2

Notre Dame 010 400 X -- 4 7 0

WP -- Blake Urhahn, 2-0. LP -- Cory Huskey. 2B -- Patrick Slattery (C), Matt Wulfers (N), Urhahn (N), Derek Ressel (N). Multiple hits -- Central, Slattery 4-4; Tyler Blackwell 2-4. Records -- Notre Dame 7-2, Central 1-4.

jjoffray@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 171