In the end, it was anything but easy.

Reliever Jack Santi stranded the tying run at third base with an inning-ending double play in the seventh inning before Collin Pence got the final six outs as Jamestown held off the Olean Oilers 6-5 in Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League action at Diethrick Park.

“It started to slip away a little bit,” Jamestown manager Joe Reitebach said postgame. “I think Jack did a good job of kind of limiting damage in that inning, and filling up the zone at the end of it to get a couple of outs.”

With the victory, the second-place Tarp Skunks improved to 18-7 on the season, just a half-game behind the Batavia Muckdogs for first place in the West Division. Sixth-place Olean fell to 10-14 with their fourth straight loss.

Jamestown Tarp Skunks' Caleb Jordan stands on second base next to Olean Oilers shortstop Keegan McElligott after Jordan's two-run double during Friday's PGCBL game against the Olean Oilers at Diethrick Park in Jamestown. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Ryan Tatar started for Jamestown and improved to 2-1 on the season with 5 2-3 innings of six-hit ball, allowing three runs (none earned) while striking out eight and walking one.

The right-hander was staked to a 1-0 lead after the first inning as Grant Moore led off with a single, stole second and scored on Nolan Smith’s one-out RBI single. The Tarp Skunks took a 3-0 lead in the third inning as Eric Weeks and Smith hit back-to-back RBI singles. In the fourth, Jamestown made it 6-0 as Caleb Jordan hit a two-run double and Anthony Trommer scored on a passed ball.

“We had hits all across the board. (Olean starter Brady) Berdine gave us a tough time last time, but I think we made really good adjustments,” Reitebach said. “I think we were getting on base and moving them around, but we kind of slowed up on their pitching change.”

Tatar tossed scoreless ball through five innings before running into trouble in the sixth.

“We’re trying to keep everyone on a count that’s low, and a certain amount per inning. He’s a guy that we’ve built up through a couple of starts now,” Reitebach said. ” … The way he was moving through the fight, we thought putting him in the sixth would be a good idea.”

Jamestown Tarp Skunks' James Dixon is tagged out at the plate by Olean Oilers catcher Brady Smith during Friday's PGCBL game against the Olean Oilers at Diethrick Park in Jamestown. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

In the sixth, the Oilers’ Darek Staudt led off with a single and Thomas Bates reached on an error before a strikeout and a groundout left runners at second and third with two outs. Then, on Tatar’s 110th pitch of the night, Olean’s Cooper Tarlie hit his second home run of the season to make it a 6-3 game. After another error, Tatar was lifted in favor of Santi, who induced a flyout to end the inning.

“We had two outs. I had a guy moving in the bullpen,” Reitebach said, ” … but the home run kind of sped things up on us, and then the pitch count became an issue.”

In the Oilers’ seventh, Brady Smith singled and Keegan McElligott reached on a bunt single before Grant Fournier laid down a sacrifice bunt. Staudt followed with an RBI single and stole second before Bates drove in another run when he reached on an error. With the score 6-5 and runners on first and third, Santi got Brian Fleming to hit into a double play.

The Tarp Skunks had a chance to add on in their half of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. But they did not tag up from third on Eric Weeks’ fly ball to relatively deep left field, then Smith was ejected after he argued a called strike three.

“I’ve known Nolan for a super-long time. Usually he’s got a pretty good eye. He had 40 walks in this league last year,” Reitebach said. ” … I kind of trust his judgment on those sorts of things.”

With the bases still loaded, Brendan Roche got out of the inning with another strikeout for Olean.

“With the center of our order up there, we expect to get a couple of runs. The way the situation unfolded, everything is bang-bang,” Reitebach said. ” … We didn’t end up scratching one across and a few calls didn’t go our way.”

Pence made the one-run lead held up with two innings of scoreless relief, pitching around a two-out single in the ninth. He struck out two en route to his third save.

“We’ve been trusting Pence all year in those high-leverage situations,” Reitebach said. “He was lights-out, getting ahead early and finishing with all three of his pitches.”

Jamestown will spend its Fourth of July in Canada, taking on the Niagara Ironbacks at 6:30 p.m. Saturday before a doubleheader in Elmira on Sunday. The Tarp Skunks will return home for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch Tuesday against the Newark Pilots.

NOTES: Berdine (Warren) started for Olean, allowing six runs (five earned) and nine hits while walking one and striking out one. McElligott went 3 for 4 and Staudt was 2 for 4 for the Oilers.