The Three Rivers College baseball team had a roller-coaster day on the diamond Thursday afternoon against the St. Charles Cougars.

Down to their final strike twice, the Raiders rallied for a 5-4, eight-inning win in the opener, but fell 11-5 in the nightcap to walk away with a split.

TRC trailed 4-2 going to the bottom of the seventh inning of the opener and was down to its final strike when Mason Krznarich singled to right. Eli Marvin then took a 1-2 pitch over the leftfield wall to tie the game and force extra innings.

After reliever Hayden Cuthbertson retired the side in order in the top of the eighth inning, Cooper McClure and Brady Robertson each walked. After the next two batters were retired, Manny Alberto singled to right to score McClure with the game-winner.

Peyton Nelson led Three Rivers with three hits in the first game, while Alberto added a pair and drove in a pair of runs.

Cuthbertson got the win in relief of starter Colton Sims, who went seven innings and struck out 10 while allowing four runs, seven hits and a walk.

It was a different story in the nightcap.

The Raiders (22-9) took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first inning of the nightcap when Krznarich knocked a two-run homer over the rightfield wall to score Alberto.

However, the Cougars responded with two runs in the top of the second inning to retake a 4-3 lead, then added three more in the top of the fifth to go ahead 7-3. St. Charles then added four more runs in the top of the sixth inning to put the game away.

Nelson, Trey Fikes and Nicolas Hawkins each had a pair of hits in the loss.

Three Rivers won't have to wait long for a rematch with the Cougars, as the Raiders head to St. Charles County Saturday for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for noon.

Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic