KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After starting the season 2-11, the Lady Raiders are a win away from .500. Three Rivers College swept MCC-Maple Woods on Sunday, winning the opener 8-6 and the nightcap 11-1, and is 12-4 in the last month since its rough start to the season. "They're excited. They are in a pretty good place right now," Three Rivers coach Jeff Null said. "Everybody is contributing." Three Rivers (14-15, 6-4 Region XVI), which took 3 of 4 over the weekend against the Lady Monarchs (13-16, 5-7 Region XVI), had 25 hits in Sunday's doubleheader, and an extra-base hit. "It was a combination of things. I thought their outfield played a little deep and we dropped a lot of balls in front of them," Null said. "We were aggressive on the bases and put pressure on them and created some runs that way." That was by MaKayla Lamphier, who kicked off the scoring in the opener with a solo shot in the second inning for her third home run of the season. She scored two more times in the game to finish 2 for 3 with a walk and two RBIs. The Lady Raiders, who stole three bases, added three runs in both the third and fourth innings to stay ahead of the Monarchs. Ally Hendricks, who has hit four home runs since March 19, didn't send anything over the fence but finished 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI.

Wiley Lowry (7-5) got the win. She allowed 10 hits and three walks with one strikeout over 5 2/3 innings. "From day one to day two, she threw much better the second day. She hit her spots very well for about four innings, and then lost it a little bit," Null said. Lowry gave up three runs in the sixth inning and after she gave up a two-run single that brought Maple Woods within two runs, Null brought in Carleigh Burnett for her first save of the season. "She gave us four really good innings there and kind of wore down," Null said. "We haven't done a lot of throwing on back to back days and that might have bothered her." Burnett got out of the jam with a fielder's choice, allowed two on in the seventh but didn't give up a hit. She then turned around and scattered four hits and two walks over six innings to win the nightcap. "Her off speed pitch was really good," Null said. "She just did a good job of working them in and out and changing speeds." Burnett (6-7) allowed a runner to reach third base one time, in the first inning. The Lady Monarchs stranded six. "She threw really well. For the weekend, she ended up with 14 1/3 innings with no earned runs," Null said. "She had their number." Burnett has now won six of her past seven starts and has not allowed more than seven hits in a game since March 5. Three Rivers went three up and three down in the third and fourth innings, but scored at least two runs in every other inning. Courtney Slayton touched home three times after going 2 for 2 with two walks and an RBI. Morgan Ledure had a pair of hits and scored twice. The Lady Raiders brought the run rule into effect with four runs in the sixth inning, capped by an RBI single by Kira Cunningham that scored Logan Hayworth and put Three Rivers ahead by 10. "The way we finished it off, we finally put a game together where we pitched well, played good defense and hit the ball," Null said. Shaina Merrick had three RBIs in the game and Lexi Morris had two.