LANCASTER – The Lancaster JetHawks nearly completed their biggest comeback of the season but fell by a run, 8-7, against Lake Elsinore Saturday night at the Hangar.

Lancaster was behind by seven but managed to get the tying run on base in the bottom of the ninth.

Lake Elsinore (29-32, 63-68) jumped in front with five runs in the second inning. The Storm sent nine to the plate in the frame, racking up five hits and benefiting from three Lancaster errors. The Storm added three more against Ty Culbreth (5-8), who allowed 13 hits in six innings.

Lancaster (33-28, 66-65) was losing, 8-1, in the middle of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, Bret Boswell and Luis Castro hit RBI singles to make it a five-run game. Nick Margevicius (5-3) allowed three runs in seven innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.

For the second night in a row, the JetHawks rallied late. Lancaster scored three in the bottom of the eighth, with a two-run Wes Rogers single cutting the deficit to two.

In the ninth, Tyler Nevin brought Alan Trejo home with a single up the middle. That put the potential tying run on base with one out, but David Bednar retired the next two hitters to end the game.

Nevin led the way for the offense, going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored. The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings behind Culbreth, with Alexander Guillen striking out six of the seven batters he faced.

It would have been the largest comeback of the season for the JetHawks had they managed to win. Instead, Lancaster fell to just a game over .500 on the season with nine left to play.

Here’s the box score.

After splitting the first two games of the series, the JetHawks and Storm played again Sunday evening.