JAMESTOWN - The Lady Eagles used a nine-spot in the first inning to cruise to a 13-6 win against Tuscumbia Tuesday evening.
"I thought we did what we needed to do to get the job done," Jamestown head coach E.H. Hirschvogel said. "Overall I thought it was a good performance that didn't shine, but we did what we needed to do."
Jamestown started its No. 2 pitcher Alli Muri for the third time this season, as she pitched the complete game while giving up six runs on seven hits. The Lady Lions recorded three of the seven hits in the first inning, scratching across just one run.
"My No. 1 (Alyssa Reynolds) has been pitching a lot," Hirschvogel said. "She pitched two games over the weekend and she pitched last night, and I wasn't about to throw her tonight. Alli came out and she did what a backup needs to do."
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning, the Lady Eagles scored the first seven batters in the lineup, then two more to take a 9-1 lead after the opening frame.
Mickayla Strother walked and Lexi Muri and Mackinzie Strother bunt-singled to load the bases. Darian Wolfe walked to score the first run, then Emily Scheperle doubled to plate two more runs for the 3-1 lead. Alli Muri was hit by a pitch to load the bases again, then Melanie Perez's walked and Jessica Coonce hit a sacrifice fly to score two more. After Mickayla Strother walked in another run to give her team a 6-1 lead, Lexi Muri doubled to finish off the scoring with three more runs.
"Especially when you have your No. 2 pitcher on the mound, there's nothing better than giving her that cushion to work with," Hirschvogel said. "She had to work through the first inning, but the rest of the game she didn't have to worry about anything because she had that cushion there."
After the Lady Eagles added another run in the second inning to push the lead to 10-1, Tuscumbia cut the deficit to 10-4 in the third inning thanks to a couple of defensive errors.
Tuscumbia's Takayla Gunter singled to left field, then advanced to second on a fielding error. The next four batters reached on an error, walk, error and another walk, and they scored two runs in the process. The third run scored when Emily Vaugh grounded out to first base.
Jamestown matched the Lady Lions with three runs of its own in the third inning to push the lead to 13-4. Alli Muri allowed two more runs in the fourth inning, but shutout Tuscumbia during the final three innings.
"She settled in nicely," Hirschvogel said. "I think she got in a rhythm with Mackenzie behind the plate and she just kind of cruise controlled from there."
After scoring 13 runs in the first three innings, the Lady Eagles were held scoreless in the fourth through sixth innings. They totaled just three hits in those innings and got five baserunners on board.
"I think what happened was we just got flat," Hirschvogel said. "You come out and score the runs, they bring in the new pitcher, we scored a couple off of her and then we didn't have the energy that we needed to have to keep going offensively."
Three of Jamestown's batters recorded two hits, while four others had one. Lexi Muri was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored to pace the offense, and Wolfe and Perez were each 2-for-2. Wolfe had three RBI and two runs scored and Perez had an RBI and a run scored.
The Lady Eagles (11-4) will travel to Higbee on Thursday at 5 p.m.