The Carmi-White County Lady Bulldogs came up just short Monday afternoon, falling to Crab Orchard 6-5 in a back-and-forth contest.
Crab Orchard struck first with a run in the top of the opening inning, but Carmi responded in the third. Caroline Simmons delivered a clutch RBI double to give the Lady Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage.
The lead grew to 3-1 in the fourth inning when Bri Hale ripped an RBI triple to bring home another run.
The momentum shifted in the fifth inning, as a string of Carmi errors allowed the Trojans to even the score at 3-3 before taking a 4-3 lead later in the frame. The Lady Bulldogs answered quickly, as Sydney Stallings came through with an RBI single to plate Addi Elliott and tie the game at 4-4.
The game remained deadlocked until the seventh inning, when Crab Orchard delivered a two-out, two-run triple to take a 6-4 lead.
Carmi made one final push in the bottom half, as Elliott led off with a double and later scored on an RBI single from Eva Attebury to cut the deficit to 6-5. However, the Lady Bulldogs were unable to complete the comeback, leaving the tying run on base as the game ended on three consecutive strikeouts.
With the loss, the Lady Bulldogs fall to 3-8 on the season. Carmi will look to bounce back quickly as they open conference play on the road at Flora this afternoon.
At the plate:
Addi Elliott – 3-for-4, 2B, 3 R
Eva Attebury – 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
Caroline Simmons – 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Sydney Stallings – 1-for-4, RBI
Aerielle McWhirter – 1-for-2, 2B, R
Bri Hale – 1-for-3, 3B, RBI
In the circle:
Maggie Pearce – 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Addi Courson (L) – 2.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K