Pinecrest softball coach Lynsey Manki had never seen one. Patriot second baseman Dee Baker had, but couldn’t remember when.

In the top of the first inning of Wednesday’s game against visiting Jack Britt, there were runners on first and second when Baker caught a low line drive. She flipped to first baseman Lindsay Parkin to double the runner off first. Parkin then fired the ball to shortstop Olivia Cioccolanti to complete a triple play.

“I had to do it because I made that error on the bunt,” Baker said, referring to the previous play. “I enjoyed it.”

Unfortunately, the Patriots were unable to build on the spectacular start against the defending co-champions of the Mid-South Conference. The Buccaneers (8-2) scored four runs in the third and four in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead on the way to handing the Patriots (2-3) a 10-3 loss.

The first Buc hit off Patriot freshman Bobbie McDaniel was a bloop single to center by Ciera Ames leading off the top of the third inning. There wasn’t a hard hit among the six singles in the frame, but they added up to four runs.

A bases-clearing triple over Patriot centerfielder Amber Huff’s head by Caitlin Mercer did most of the damage in the four-run fourth.

The score was 9-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Rae Nunez doubled over the head of the leftfielder for the first hit of the game off Buc pitcher McKenzie Weaver. The Patriots then dropped down four bunts in a row. The first two were misplayed, including one by Lizzie Smith that drove in the home team’s first run. Leslie Saunders squeezed in another before Baker brought home the third run of the inning with an infield hit.

The other Patriot hits were a double by Parkin in the sixth and a single by Smith in the seventh. McDaniel allowed 10 hits while striking out six, walking one and hitting a batter.

“They waited too long to start playing,” Manki said afterward. “They came out flat and finally started to play in the fifth inning. You can’t do that against a team like Jack Britt.”

The Patriot coach was reminded that her team goes into tonight’s 7 p.m. game at Purnell Swett (changed from 6 p.m.) undefeated in Southeastern Conference play. Their only other league game against Hoke County was suspended because of rain and won’t be completed until later in the season.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” she said, “but that’s a good thing. We gave the team a pretty good talking to and tomorrow’s practice should go well. Hopefully, that will carry into the game on Friday.”

Contact Charlie Berg-mann at cbergmann@nc.rr. com.