COLUMBIA, Mo. — Originally slated for 9 a.m., fans who waited six hours for the Lady Raiders and Lady Monarchs to play got double their money's worth and some change to spare. Three Rivers College and MCC-Maple Woods went 14 innings, twice as many as a normal game, with Maple Woods eventually winning 10-9 in the first round of the Region XVI Tournament. After six scoreless extra innings, both teams finally broke through in the 14th, more than three hours into the game. Maple Woods' Hillary Protzman, who tied the game in the top of the seventh on an error but finished 1 for 6, drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice.

On a hit up the middle, Protzman was waived home. Three Rivers center fi elder Randi Scruggs threw to the plate and Protzman beat the tag. "We didn't get the call on that one, and instead of being out of the inning they ended up earning a couple more runs. We didn't quit. We came back and answered with a couple and had our shot again," Three Rivers coach Jeff Null said. The Lady Monarchs put runners on second and third with a double, and a pair of two-out singles added two insurance runs.

In the bottom frame, Lexi Morris and Courtney Slayton singled with one out for the Lady Raiders, then Ally Hendricks, who finished 3 for 6 with two runs, drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Wiley Lowry. She drove the first pitch to left-center field for two RBIs, and put Hendricks on second. Needing Three Rivers' 19th hit of the game to possibly tie it, Brittany Link stepped up to the plate. It was the freshman third baseman's 43rd at-bat of the season, the fewest of any non-pitcher. She'd shown power and ability in the clutch though, with a home run, a double and eight RBIs off just 13 hits. Link drew a 2-1 count and roped a line drive that the first baseman snowconed to end the game. "I think we probably score two runs on that. It was right down the line," Null said. "It was excitement and disappointment all in about one second."

In the loss, Lowry (14-11) threw 122 pitches over nine relief innings and allowed eight hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Carleigh Burnett started and allowed 10 hits and two walks with one strikeout over fi ve innings. The Lady Raiders committed five errors, all prior to extra innings, and allowed three unearned runs while the Lady Monarchs committed one error and didn't allow any unearned runs. "The defensive mistakes on our part let them in the game," Null said. "Every time we would take the lead back, we would make a defensive mistake and let them back in it. That was really the difference in the game."

In the win, Maple Woods pitcher Tara Prindle (9-8) pitched 11 relief innings and allowed 10 hits and three walks with eight strikeouts. She threw 154 pitches. The Lady Raiders left 11 on base, including seven in scoring position. "We had chance after chance after chance. We just couldn't get a two-out hit," Null said. Maple Woods (21-23) later beat Crowder 6-3 to advance to the fi nals of the winner's bracket. Three Rivers (29-25) will play at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday against the loser of Jefferson and North Central in the double-elimination tournament. "We've proven to ourselves that we can play with anybody in the region. I think having a couple days off here will really help us because we played six days in a row," said Null, who played everybody in the 14-inning game. The Lady Raiders held a one-run lead going into the seventh inning and gave it up after a pair of disastrous infield errors. Protzman, the Lady Monarch's leadoff hitter, took second on the first error, and tied the game on the second. The second error also put a runner on second with nobody out, and she moved to third on a sacrifice. With the go-ahead run threatening, Lowry got a strikeout, and Slayton caught a liner at shortstop to get out of the inning. The Lady Raiders, who scored in four of the fi rst six innings, had the core of the lineup due up in the bottom of the seventh but they went three up and three down. Neither team scored over the next six innings as Lowry and Prindle were locked in pitcher's duel.

Both coaches opted to pitch their No. 2 pitcher in the first round, and save the ace for a potential second round matchup against No. 1 Crowder. The Lady Monarchs went to Prindle in the fourth inning, with them down 5-3. Three Rivers similarly went to Lowry in the top of the sixth. Maple Woods stranded a runner in the eighth, ninth, 12th and 13th innings. Over those six extra innings of work, the Lady Raider outfi eld made just three outs, equal to how many swinging strikeouts Lowry got. "Wiley was just cruising. She threw well," Null said. The Lady Raiders, batting as the home team, stranded six runners over the same span. Four were in scoring position, but nobody made it to third base. After a drought where nine straight Lady Raiders were retired between the sixth and ninth innings, Scruggs got a two-out single for her third hit of the game and stole second before being stranded by a groundout. Slayton led off the 10th by reaching on an error stole second as well, but the next three Lady Raiders didn't get the ball out of the infield. Maci Coleman had a leadoff single in the 11th and got left on second. Hendricks doubled to left field with two outs in the 12th, and stayed put after a comebacker to the pitcher.