On Thursday, the Lewisburg Middle School Tigerettes were dealt their first loss of the season on the softball diamond when they dropped a 7-6 decision to the Liberty Lady Patriots on the road.

After trailing 6-2 through the first four innings of play, the Tigerettes (5-1) rallied to tie the game at 6-6 in the top of the fifth.

Liberty, however, held Lewisburg scoreless over the final two frames while tallying a run in the bottom of the sixth to escape with the win.

Time to learn

"This loss may have come at a good time. We haven't played to our full potential the last couple of games so losing a non-conference game may not have been a bad thing," said LMS coach Lee Perryman.

The Tigerettes had averaged 11 runs per game in their previous five outings, but finished with a modest six hits against Lady Patriot starting pitcher Savannah McCullough and reliever Kendall Durard.

Taylor Walls doubled to account for Lewisburg's lone extra base hit of the game, while Blair Richards (1 RBI), Skylar Brandon (1 RBI), Leah Hollingsworth, Laura Beth Brown, and Hannah Sheppard all singled.

Durard picked up the win in the circle for Liberty and notched four strikeouts in two scoreless innings of work. McCullough had to settle for the no decision after yielding six unearned runs on six hits.

Errors hurt

Lewisburg starting pitcher Halle Chapman suffered the loss in the circle, but was hamstrung by six Tigerette errors, as she allowed seven runs, only one earned, on six hits and three walks over six innings to go along with six strikeouts.

Durard led the Lady Patriots' offense by going 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI, while Lexi Sanders added two hits and three runs scored..

Liberty left two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the first, but pushed across four runs in the second inning with the help of two walks, two LMS errors, and a Kylie Ray RBI single to grab a 4-0 lead.

After the Tigerettes plated two runs in the top of the third inning thanks to two Lady Patriot errors and a RBI single by Blair to cut the deficit to 4-2, Liberty opened up a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth on the strength of a leadoff single by Sanders, two Lewisburg errors, and a Durard RBI double.

Tigerettes tie it

The Lady Patriots lead would quickly evaporate in the top of the fifth, as LMS crossed home plate four times in the frame behind a leadoff single by Hollingsworth, three errors, a Brandon RBI single, and a single by Brown to knot the game at 6-6.

Chapman retired Liberty in order in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lady Patriots scratched out a run in the sixth inning with the aid of a Lewisburg error and a Durard RBI single to seize a 7-6 lead.

Durard then sat the Tigerettes down in order in the top of the seventh to seal the victory for the Lady Patriots.