It was a case of good news and bad news recently for Lindbergh High School baseball team.

The Flyers (1-8, 1-3 Suburban West) recorded their first win of the 2004 season with a 7-6 victory over Marquette last week. But the Flyers turned around on Friday and dropped an 8-1 decision to conference-rival Lafayette.

“It was nice to get that first win out of the way,” head coach Darin Scott told the Call. “We did a nice job at battling back and getting the win.”

The Flyers rallied from a 5-2 deficit, tacking on three runs in the third and two runs in the sixth for the victory.

Lindbergh starting pitcher Nick Higgs gave up six runs on six hits with one walk and eight strikeouts en route the no decision. The sophomore hurler was appearing in his first start of the 2005 campaign after coming out of the bullpen for the Flyers this season. He leads the Flyers in strikeouts with 12 and is second in earned run average at 5.68.

“Nick’s been doing a really nice job out of the bullpen and earned a start for us,” Scott said. “He just gets out there and battles and did a nice job at keeping them off-balance.”

Sophomore Tim Eikmeier got the win after tossing one inning of no-hit ball while walking one in his first win of the season. Eikmeier is 1-1 overall with a 10.96 earned run average.

“Tim just comes in and goes right after people,” Scott said. “He’s a pretty solid reliever that’s going to be there in the end.”

Greg Christ had the hottest day at the plate with a 2-3 performance with two runs scored. The junior outfielder is batting a solid .294 with three runs scored on five hits.

“Greg’s a left fielder that’s a base-hit kind of hitter,” Scott said. “He did a nice job at being on base and giving us the opportunity to score runs.”

Against Lafayette, the Flyers struggled early in the game, allowing three runs in the top of the first and a total of six runs in the first two innings of play.

“One of our biggest problems this year is giving up runs early in the game,” Scott said.

“If we get down early, we’re the type of team that struggles at coming from behind in a game,” he said.

The Flyers were unable to close the gap while Lafayette kept the scoreboard operator busy. Lindbergh mustereed just one run on six hits. The lone run came in the first inning.

Lindbergh starting pitcher Zach Outman took the loss after giving up seven runs on six hits in just 2 1/3 innings pitched. The junior hurler also struck out two in his second loss of the 2005 season.

“Zach’s got good stuff when he pitches ahead in the count,” Scott said. “He’s just got to do a better job at challenging hitters.”

Caleb Monroe relieved Outman in the third inning and held Lafayette to just one run on four hits in 41/3 innings.

“I think Caleb’s performance against Lafayette was the one bright spot of the day,” Scott said. “I’m really looking forward to the next time he steps out onto the mound.”

The Flyers are back in conference play at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday as they travel to Mehlville for a Suburban West Conference match.

“It’s a case of one team with a lot of returning players against a team with very little experience,” Scott said. “We’re going to have to play good ball in order to hang in there with them.”