Free State High’s fortune against out-of-state baseball teams vanished on Saturday.

The Firebirds, who beat teams from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri in the past nine days, suffered a 12-4 setback to Lincoln (Neb.) Southeast at Free State.

“Five years ago you never would have dreamed of playing somebody from Lincoln,” said FSHS coach Mike Hill, whose team dipped to 5-3 after having its three-game winning streak snapped. “That’s the fourth team in a row we’ve played from different states. We need to see people like that so we can get better. We played comparable teams to this in those victories. This team might have been a little better, but we’ve beaten good ballclubs.”

The Knights, ranked No. 6 in Class A (Nebraska has one classification for baseball) and a state semifinalist a year ago, bashed 13 hits and capitalized on seven FSHS errors.

“We were inefficient defensively,” said Hill, whose team’s miscues resulted in seven unearned runs. “Our pitching wasn’t bad. We were atrocious defensively. We were on our heels defensively. We didn’t come ready to play.”

Southeast ace Brian Knippelmeyer, consistently throwing in the mid-80s, cruised through the first six innings before fading in the seventh. Knippelmeyer (2-1) allowed six hits  four in the final inning when Free State scored all four of its runs  and struck out 10 Firebirds  all swinging.

“He got a little tired late,” Southeast coach Randy Brolhorst said. “When he has command of all three of his pitches, he’s tough.”

Free State couldn’t solve Knippelmeyer until the final inning.

“We failed to make the adjustments,” Hill said. “Those are the kind of pitchers we’re going to have to beat to get where we want. We got on him late because he got tired and got the ball up. We were a one-inning wonder. You’re not going to win ball games doing that.”

Senior Alex Gordon, a Nebraska University baseball signee as a third baseman, relieved Knippelmeyer and retired the final two Firebirds as the Knights improved to 8-2. Gordon went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs and a triple. He also hit a towering fly ball that FSHS junior right fielder David Arndt tracked down at the warning track.

“I can’t believe that ball stayed in the park,” Brolhorst said.

Knippelmeyer went 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI. In the sixth inning, he tripled to center field and scored on a botched relay throw by Free State.

Arndt went 2-for-3, including a double, and knocked in Free State’s final two runs. Senior first baseman Cassidy Thompson singled in the seventh to drive in Free State’s first two runs.

“That’s by far the best pitcher we’ve seen,” Arndt said of Knippelmeyer. “They took it to us. This is good competition for us and lets us know where we’re at.”

Following the victory over Free State, Southeast popped Lawrence High, 5-1, at Ice Field.

Southeast, which hauled its players in two vans, normally plays teams in Lincoln and Omaha.

“This is the first time we’ve done this,” Brolhorst said of traveling out of state. “We welcomed the opportunity to come down here and play. Obviously, it’s a long ride, but any time you play baseball it’s fun. We’ll do this every weekend if we have to.”

Free State will play a single game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Leavenworth before returning home for the three-day River City Festival. The Firebirds will play Grandview, Mo., at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Hoglund Ballpark, St. Louis Parkway South at 8 p.m. Friday at Hoglund Ballpark and Omaha Creighton Prep at 3 p.m. Saturday at Free State.

Lincoln (Neb.) Southeast 12, Free State 4

Lincoln Southeast (8-2) 401 211 3Â12 13 0

Free State (5-3) 000 000 4Â4 6 7

WP Â Brian Knippelmeyer, 2-1. LP Â Jake Hoover, 0-1.

2B Â SE: Matt Coatman, Jeff Christy, Chris Knievel; FS: David Arndt. 3B Â SE: Alex Gordon, Knippelmeyer.

FSHS highlights  Arndt, 2-3, 2B, 2 RBIs; Matt Lane, 2-3; Cassidy Thompson, 1-3, 2 RBIs.