The Three Rivers College softball team's two games Wednesday with the North Central Missouri College Pirates were a study in contrasts.
NCMC and the Lady Raiders combined for 30 hits in the opener as the Pirates won 12-10, but TRC allowed just four hits and one earned run in the nightcap to win 5-3 at J.D. Rains Field.
Three Rivers (19-13) led 1-0 going to the bottom of the third inning, when Lexi Davis took a 1-0 pitch over the centerfield fence for a solo homer and a 2-0 lead. Clara Rahlmann followed that up with a single, then Gracie Wright knocked the ball over the rightfield fence for a two-run bomb and a 4-0 lead.
After NCMC cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the sixth inning, the Lady Raiders added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Davis doubled home Kodie Van Eycke for a 5-2 lead.
TRC hurler Emma Crabb went the distance in the circle for the win, allowing four hits, two walks and one earned run while striking out six.
Davis had three hits and drove in two runs in the game, while Wright added two hits and drove in three runs.
In the opener, Three Rivers got off to a strong start when Alyssa Bastien blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, then Wright added a two-run shot in the bottom of the third to make it 5-2 in favor of TRC.
However, the Pirates scored five runs each in the next two innings to take a 12-5 lead, with the big blow being a fifth-inning grand slam from Brookelynn Becker.
The Lady Raiders did not give up, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the NCMC lead to 12-9, then adding another run on a Natalie Wilks sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. TRC had the tying run at the dish when the game ended.
Davis and Bezzole each had three hits in the loss, while Wright drove in four runs and Bastien drove in three.
Elly Eckrich started and took the loss in the circle, going five innings before Wilks finished the game.
Three Rivers wraps up its series with the Pirates with a doubleheader this afternoon. First pitch is set for noon at J.D. Rains Field.
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic