Mia Carnes homered to left field to lead off the game, and Republic batted around before Lebanon recorded its second out, scoring nine times in the first inning of a 19-8 win at Lebanon Tuesday.
Republic sent 15 batters to the plate in that inning. Five got hits, three walked, two were hit by pitches and one reached on an error, and Lebanon went through three pitchers trying to end it.
Chloe Simpson singled behind Carnes and stole second, Maddie Taylor singled her home, and Maddie Carter reached on an error by the shortstop that scored Taylor. Jayma Pitchford singled and Myleigh Mooneyham walked to load the bases, and Lily Worthy, Kate Stulce and Harper Lankford each drove in a run without putting a ball in play — Worthy and Lankford hit by pitches, Stulce walked. Carnes struck out against Lebanon’s third pitcher of the inning, but Simpson singled home another run, and Taylor and Carter walked with the bases loaded before the inning finally ended at 9-0.
Lebanon answered with two in the bottom half of the first, then cut the lead to 9-4 in the second.
Stulce’s two-run single to left highlighted a three-run fifth to make it 12-4, but Lebanon scored three in the bottom of the fifth to stay in striking distance at 12-7.
The Lady Tigers put the game away in the sixth, scoring seven more runs. Simpson singled again, Carter walked, and Pitchford singled a run home. Mooneyham doubled to left to score another, Worthy singled two more in, and Stulce’s bunt was thrown away by the third baseman for the fifth run of the inning. Carnes came up with two outs and homered to right field, her second of the night, and Republic led 19-7. McCormick’s single drove in a Lebanon run in the bottom of the sixth, and the 11-run lead ended the game there.
Simpson was 4-for-6 and scored three runs. Pitchford was 4-for-5, Stulce 3-for-4 and Mooneyham 2-for-4. Carnes was 2-for-6, and both of her hits were home runs.
Pitchford pitched 4.2 innings to earn the win, allowing nine hits and a walk with one strikeout. Kennedy Smithson finished the game and gave up three hits in 1.1 innings.
Republic improves to 7-7. The Lady Tigers host Ozark Thursday, then play five games at the Branson Festival next weekend.
Get every story delivered.
Tiger Wire — Republic sports news, free every morning.