Lakeland’s softball team piled up 13 hits and stayed in the game for awhile against Great Bridge Tuesday evening at Lakeland before the visitors scored eight runs in the last two innings to turn a close game into a 13-3 win.

The Lady Cavaliers (3-4, 3-4) were trying to extend a three-game winning streak, all in district games against Chesapeake schools, after a 13-3 win at Indian River Monday.

For five innings against Great Bridge, Lakeland was within reach of a fourth straight win.

The Lady Cavaliers, with Vici Treat doing the pitching, had worked their way out of a few jams and were returning Great Bridge’s slugging with some of their own to stay within a 5-3 deficit.

After Great Bridge jumped out to a 4-0 lead in its first two frames, Lakeland got on the board in the bottom of the second.

Valerie Treat and Mary Ellis opened the inning with singles and Kelsey Smither lined a shot over third base and down into the left field corner for a two-RBI triple.

The Lady Cavaliers held Great Bridge to one run despite a leadoff triple and two more base runners in the Lady Wildcat third.

Lakeland quickly regained that run, with Jaclyn Wood, Kendell Combs and Vici Treat singling to lead off its third inning. An illegal pitch scored Wood from third but that was all the potential Lakeland rally ended with.

The Lady Cavaliers got hits in six of the seven innings, also loading the bases in the bottom of the fifth, with the margin still only two runs, but couldn’t find one or two more key hits for a big inning.

Instead, Great Bridge scored two runs in the sixth and overpowered Lakeland with a stretch of seven straight hits for the bulk of a six-run rally in the seventh.

“Innings six and seven haven’t been good for us,” said Lakeland head coach Steve Wood, “but we’re getting better. Our composure on the field is very good, too. I went out there (to talk with the infield) in the seventh inning and told them, ‘(Great Bridge) is just hitting the ball.’”

“We’ve been hitting the ball and moving runners around and the girls have been making great plays on defense,” Wood said about the winning streak and all but the last two innings of Tuesday’s game.

Jaclyn Wood, Vici Treat, Jen Asbell, Valerie Treat and Smither finished with two hits each.

The Lady Cavaliers host Hickory Friday at 5:30 p.m.

On Lakeland’s baseball diamond Tuesday, Great Bridge used a three-run homer and two two-run homers to beat the Cavaliers (1-7, 1-6) 11-2.

The Wildcats got the three-run homer four hitters into the game and went on to an 8-0 lead by the middle of the sixth inning.

Lakeland leadoff hitter Lance Smith doubled to start the sixth inning and Randall Jones followed with a bunt hit plus a wild throw to first. Smith scored on the error. Jones came in to score on a groundout a couple batters later.

The Cavaliers also host Hickory Friday evening.