The Lady Tigers banged out 17 hits in a 12-5 win over Central Ozark Conference foe Neosho Thursday. Kaitlyn Ragsdale had four hits, Riley Laub and Ally Stolte had three apiece, and Megan Thorne slugged a home run in the victory.
Republic scored in each of the first five innings, starting with two runs in the 1st. Ragsdale singled and stole a base, then scored on a double by Stolte, who came in to score on an RBI groundout by Julia Higgins to make it 2-0.
In the 2nd, the Lady Tigers scored three more runs on three hits and an error to take a 5-0 lead. After Neosho scored a single run in the top of the 3rd, Thorne homered to lead off the bottom of the inning, and the Lady Tigers scored two more to stretch their lead to 8-1.
It was 9-1 after four innings, but Neosho clawed its way back into the game with a four-run inning in the 5th. That cut the Republic lead to 9-5.
As they have done so often this season, though, Republic answered right back. The Lady Tigers scored three more runs in the bottom of the 5th to extend their lead to 12-7, and that’s how it ended.
Livi Collier was 2-for-4 and drove in three runs for Republic. Ragsdale, in addition to her four hits, scored three more runs and stole three bases, bringing her season total to 22. Stolte scored two runs and drove in two. Megan Weis also scored a couple of runs for Republic.
Avery Romans was the winning pitcher. Whe worked all seven innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. She struck out two and walked on.
The Lady Tigers improve to 10-5 overall. They’re 4-1 in the conference. They host Kickapoo Friday.