HILLSBORO, Mo. - Two of the top pitchers in Region XVI faced off Thursday, with Jefferson's Kristina Bettis getting the win over Three Rivers' Kindi Puckett.
The Raiders lost the opener 7-3 and then won the nightcap 11-6.
With the win, Bettis now has a 16-2 record with a 0.85 ERA on the season while Puckett is 14-2 with a 1.62 ERA.
"She's legit. Probably one of the top couple pitchers in the region," Three Rivers coach Jeff Null said of Bettis. "We struggled the first 4-5 innings before we started getting to her a little bit, but it was too late by then."
The loss was Puckett's first since March 28, when Crowder caught her tipping her pitches and scored nine runs.
Zoe Bisby hit two home runs in the night- cap as the Raiders had six in the game. Jaime Lee hit a three-run homer in the seventh while Molly Spangler, Brianna Everett and Gracie Thomas all had solo home runs earlier in the game.
Lee and Bisby both finished with three RBIs and two hits.
Makale Floyd had a no-hitter going until giving up a two-run home run in the fourth inning. She pitched 5 1/3 and allowed five hits, a walk and a hit batter with seven strikeouts.
"Makale really stepped up for us again," Null said. "She had a really solid outing and kind of ran out of gas at the end."
Kindi Puckett pitched the final 1 2/3 innings and allowed a hit and a walk with three strikeouts.
"We had to at least get out of their with a split at that point," Null said.
Puckett also pitched the first three innings of the opener and allowed two hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Bryant finished the game and allowed six hits, a walk and a hit batter with four strikeouts.
Lee had a leadoff single to open the game, but it would be Three Rivers' only hit until the fifth inning.
Jefferson (22-10, 7-3 Region XVI) retired 12 straight batters before Lauren Joyner reached on an error to leadoff the fifth inning.
With two outs in the seventh, Three Rivers (29-2, 14-2) strung together some offense to score all three of its runs.
Fayth Rakes got a two-run single to score Kyla Puckett and Jenny Morey. Blair Quarles then singled to score Rakes from second base.
Thursday's doubleheader starts a busy stretch for Three Rivers with eight games in four days, all against region opponents and all on the road.
The Raiders face Nortch Central Missouri on Friday, then head to State Fair Saturday, and back to North Central on Sunday.
After a week off, Three Rivers will finish the regu- lar season at home against East Central on April 24, and Jefferson on April 25.
Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic