VALDOSTA — Lowndes dropped a key Region 1-AAAAA softball game Saturday morning, falling 2-0 to Houston County at the Morris-Coats Field of Dreams.

The loss dropped the Vikettes (16-10) into third place in the region at 7-3. Lowndes and Houston had been tied for second going into the game.

Lowndes couldn’t hit Houston pitcher Brianna Hancock on Saturday. Hancock shut down the Vikettes’ bats, tossing a one-hit shutout. She struck out five. Hancock walked five batters and hit two more with a pitch, but each time, she was able to get out of the inning unscathed.

“We didn’t hit the ball when it counted,” Lowndes head coach Jared Dickey said. “(Hancock) shut us down. She did what she needed to do.

“She’s a good pitcher, but we had plenty of opportunities, plenty of baserunners. She walked us (five) times, hit us a couple of times, but each time, we couldn’t find a way to get them across.”

Hitting remains Lowndes’ Achilles heel. The Vikettes have not scored more than two runs in any of their 10 losses this season. In all three region losses, they have been shut out.

“That’s been our weakness all year,” Dickey said. “We’ve got to find our rhythm, relax, and hit the ball.”

Houston got on the board with a run in the first. Ashlee Burkett led off the game with a double to left center, advanced on a passed ball, and scored on Kaitlyn Carriker’s sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

Lowndes had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with two outs on walks to Sadee Scarborough, Sarah Santana and Morgan Harris. But Hancock got out of the jam by getting Abby Agerter to ground out to short.

The Vikettes would put runners on second in the next two innings, but stranded them each time. Lowndes left nine runners on base.

The Lady Bears added a run in the top of the fourth. With one out, Kourtny Thomas ripped a double into the left field corner. Thomas then stole third, and scored on Taylor Fountain’s fly ball to center.

Houston had a chance to add runs in the fifth. Singles by Katie Kratz and Kaitlyn Carriker and a walk to Ashlee Burkett loaded the bases. But Lowndes pitcher Lauren Revels got Sarah Ling, the cleanup hitter, to pop up to second to end the inning. The next inning, Thomas led off with a double and reached third, but Revels got Kratz to line out to shortstop Dionne Bishop.

Revels allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings, striking out five. But she couldn’t get any offensive support.

Lowndes plays its final regular season game on Tuesday, traveling to Tift County.