Columbia broke a scoreless game by scoring four runs in the top of the third inning as the Lady Wildcats held on to defeat the Lady Bulldogs Thursday night in a Division 7-3A game.

“They had five hits that inning. They were just punching it through the infield,” Franklin County coach Dana Smith said. The loss was the second in a row for the Lady Bulldogs (8-7, 2-3).

Four of the five hits Columbia (2-2 in Division 7-3A) were singles and Kaylan McNabb had a double. The Lady Wildcats ended up with 14 hits against Franklin County’s pitching, with six of their players having two hits each.

Franklin County scored one run in the bottom of the third to cut Columbia’s lead to 4-1, but the Lady Wildcats scored three runs in the top of the fourth, including a two-run triple by winning pitcher Kayley Stampley to make it a 7-1 game.

The Lady Bulldogs got a two-run home run from Jennifer Thornton as part of a three-run rally in the bottom of the fourth to stay in the game, but they could only manage one run in the final three innings as Monea Cameron tripled to bring in Heather Havard in the bottom of the sixth.

“Our bats let us down again,” Smith said. “We’re not being aggressive enough at the plate and selective with our pitches. We have to be more selective with our pitches.”

Cameron went 3-for-3 and ended up a home run shy of hitting for the cycle to lead Franklin County. Stampley was one of four Columbia players to go 2-for-4 and Jasmine Jefferson was 2-for-5 with a triple.