The offense got going far too late for No. 3 Warwick PAL on Tuesday afternoon, failing to register a hit until the seventh inning in a 2-0 loss to Slocum at Lischio Field.

The No. 2-seeded, North Kingstown-based Slocum took the first game of the state semifinal series behind a remarkably efficient performance on the mound from Lucas Deslauriers. The tall right-hander needed only 75 pitches to go the distance, stymieing a late comeback effort with two of his seven strikeouts on the night.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to their pitcher,” PAL manager Mike Martin said. “He kept us off-balance with his off-speed pitches, and when he threw his fastball he managed to throw it by us because guys were looking, guessing at pitches. That’s the sign of a good pitcher.”

Pinch-hitter Brett D’Andrea led off the seventh for hitless PAL in the No. 10 spot, hoping to start a rally in the final frame. He quickly fell behind 0-2 before shooting a double into right field for PAL’s first base knock. Dillon Bordeleau quickly made things interesting after he lined a single off the third baseman’s glove and into left field to put runners at the corners.

Steve Foster tried to move Bordeleau up to second, but popped his bunt attempt into Deslauriers’ glove. Bordeleau would end up swiping second base anyway, putting the tying run in scoring position for Dylan Palmiotti and cleanup hitter Alec Bloomingburgh.

Deslauriers locked in again at that point, and two of PAL’s best performers at the plate had no luck against him. Both Palmiotti and Bloomingburgh went down swinging on 1-2 counts, and Slocum locked up the Game 1 victory.

“My [No.] 3 and my [No.] 4 hitters, those are good hitters, and when you’re keeping them off-balance, you’ve pitched a good game,” Martin said. “I tip my hat, we had second and third, one out, but tip your cap to him. He made the pitches when he had to and he did it all night. They’re a solid team.”

Lost in the shuffle, though, was the solid outing for PAL’s Zach D’Andrea. Despite the fact that Slocum put a runner on base in every inning, D’Andrea limited the damage. His final line across six innings pitched included two earned runs on six hits to go with five strikeouts and only two walks.

“Zach has pitched great all year,” Martin said. “They got a couple of hits off him. They had a couple of hits, couple of runs and with a team like that, that’s all they need. He went pitch-for-pitch with the kid other than the couple of hits he gave up early. I have no complaints. You give me [six] innings and give me two runs, we’ll win most of those games. Unfortunately, tonight, we didn’t.”

Slocum pushed across its first runs in the early innings, providing more than enough insurance for the quick-working Deslauriers. Cleanup hitter Andrew Almonte started the second with a leadoff single up the middle, and a Deslauriers sacrifice bunt moved him into scoring position.

After a walk to put two runners on, Drew Brady lined a single into right field that should have loaded the bases. However, Evan O’Connor misplayed the ball, allowing Almonte to score from second with the first run.

Pat Maybach’s RBI double with two down in the third would give Deslauriers a 2-run cushion to preserve. His ability to work quick outs paid dividends, as nine of PAL’s 21 outs came within the first two pitches.

PAL had its back against the wall heading back to Mickey Stevens, where it was slated to host Slocum for Game 2 on Wednesday night. Rain forced a postponement, though, pushing the game to today at 5:30.

“They’re almost a mirror image of us,” Martin said. “Good pitching, good defensively and they scratch out a run here or there. We’re going to come back tomorrow night with Dan [Reph], Dan’s ready to go on full rest. So we’ll see them at Mickey Stevens and we’ll see if we can even the series up.”