POPLAR BLUFF – The Three Rivers baseball team split the first two games of a four-game set against St. Charles on Thursday at Roger Pattillo Field. The Raiders dropped game one 12-7, but bounced back to win game two by a score of 10-2.

The Cougars took advantage of a five-run seventh to put the game out of reach after the Raiders tied it up in the sixth.

Noah Burkey got the start on the mound as he was handed a no-decision tossing three and two-thirds picking up three strikeouts. Cade Cancilla went 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs.

St. Charles got on the board first in the third, but the Raiders responded with four in their half of the inning with four runs. The Cougars then added three more runs in the fourth, but the Raiders were able to tie it up at 6-all with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth.

After both teams put a run on the board in the sixth, St. Charles ran away with it in the seventh to seal game one.

Game two was more favorable for Three Rivers as they rattled off 10 hits and took advantage of three errors.

Kolten Poorman, Bryson Luna and Nolan Self each contributed two RBIs on their slash lines in the second game of the day while Daniel Vogt and Jacob Corby combined for eight strikeouts with four a piece.

The Raiders took advantage of a four-run third to give Vogt and Corby plenty of run support to work with and salvage a split for Thursday.

Both teams will go at it again for two more on Saturday at St. Charles.

Robert Augsdorfer - Daily American Republic