Walks, hit batters and plain bad luck plagued the Ironmen in a 6-4 loss to the Quincy Gems Sunday at The Pipe Yard, extending their losing streak to four.

Starter Aaron Hilt (0-3) pitched an erratic four innings, allowing six runs on four hits. The right-hander struck out three, walked two and hit four batters.

“We hit too many guys and walked too many guys,” manager Eric Cormell said. “That put us in a bad spot. We just have to make those adjustments and do better tomorrow.”

Trailing in the eighth inning, James DiBiasio almost brought the Ironmen back in the game when he send a hard line drive to right field. Quincy’s Jon Meyers made a diving catch to end the inning, stranding two runners on base.

Whether it was hard drives hit right at fielders, spectacular plays by the opposing defense or close calls on the basepaths, the Ironmen couldn’t catch many breaks.

“In situation like this, you can put your head down and keep the losing streak going,” said Austin Ingraham, who was 2-for-3 with a run on the day. “That’s not how we look at it. Our attitudes are positive, and I’m confident we can turn this around.”

River McWilliams came out of the bullpen to throw five scoreless innings. He faced the minimum amount of batters three times, allowing two hits.

“I just wanted to go in there, throw strikes and give the team a chance to come back,” McWilliams said. “We’re hitting the ball hard, but they just didn’t go through today.”

The hits fell in just one inning for the Ironmen. Four runs crossed the plate on five singles in the second.

With two outs, Matt McAllester hit a slow roller to third. He beat out the throw, allowing DiBiasio to score from third.

Will Hodges took the Quincy defense by surprise, sprinting from second to reach the plate ahead of the catcher’s tag.

DiBiasio and Hodges also had RBI singles in the inning, giving the Ironmen a short-lived 4-1 lead.

Hilt pitched himself into trouble in the fourth inning, hitting two batters and giving up two hits and a walk before the first out was recorded.

Andrew Host it a hard single over third base to bring two runs home. Quincy scored five runs in the inning and took a 6-4 lead.

Hilt also ran himself into trouble in the first, loading the bases with a walk and two hit batters. Quincy center fielder Vinnie Fayard hit a fly ball to Tony Brunetti in left field, allowing leadoff batter Alex Jones to tag and score from third. Brunetti, however, threw out Jake Hibbard trying to tag from second to end the inning.

Quincy starter Cody Kopilchack pitched well outside of the second, going five innings. The righty allowed four runs, eight hits, struck out four and walked two.

Aaron Brett pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save of the season.

“These guys are working hard and putting in the time to improve on things,” Cormell said. “We’re due for some good luck and good karma.”

The Ironmen will try to break the losing streak when they host the West Virginia Miners tonight at The Pipe Yard at 7:05 p.m.