NATCHEZ — The Franklin County baseball team used a big third inning to storm ahead of Cathedral School Friday night in an exhibition contest.

The Bulldogs tallied eight runs on five hits and two Green Wave errors to jump out to a 9-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

The big cushion was more than enough for starting pitcher Zach Dickerson, who held the Green Wave to just two runs on four hits to get the 11-2 win.

“(Dickerson) did a good job throwing strikes, and we put the ball in play,” Franklin County head coach Brent Calcote said.

The Bulldogs win over Cathedral was their second of the night. They defeated West Lincoln 7-2 in their first game, but Calcote said Friday was not about wins and losses.

“We were young last year, and we return most of our starters,” he said. “So it’s good to get more experience and carry that over into this season.”

Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said his team was happy to get back on the field after their playoff run ended a couple of weeks ago.

“The kids were anxious to get out here after losing in South State,” Beesley said. “They are glad to get on the field. We got some kids at bats, some young kids, so that was good to see.”

Beesley said he thought his team played well for their first time out, but Franklin County’s big inning hurt them.

“We had one bad inning,” he said. “The eight-run inning put us behind, and we couldn’t manufacture runs.”

The Green Wave did get a win over West Lincoln 7-5 Friday night to split their two games. Beesley said he was pleased with the way all of his pitchers threw.

“Alex Weadock really stood out and looked good today, and Thomas Garrity looked good in game one,” Beesley said.

Hunter Randall led Cathedral offensively against Franklin County. He finished 2-for-2 with a couple of singles and an RBI.

Dickerson had a huge night at the plate to go along with his pitching performance. He went 3-for-3 with a double and a triple. Franklin County finished the game with nine hits. Jordan Clark had two doubles in two plate appearances for the Bulldogs.

Both teams will hit the field again next week. Cathedral will travel to North Pike to play two games Thursday. Franklin County will travel to Lawrence County.