The Union Pines varsity baseball team dropped a pair of Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League games to the Richmond Senior Raiders Tuesday in Rockingham.

Initially the two Southwest division squads were scheduled to open the week with a Monday tilt at Union Pines in Cameron but the contest was postponed due to inclement weather.

Rain, thunder and lightening were again on tap for Tuesday’s action as an 81-minute rain delay between games made for a late night of baseball in Richmond County.

In the end the homestanding Raiders won both ball games, each initially scheduled to be five innings, by scores of 12-0 and 7-1.

Richmond took early control of game one by a plating seven runs in the bottom of the first. The Raiders had eight batters reach base before an out was recorded in the frame, with six of those players getting aboard via hits.

The hole was too deep for the Vikes to crawl out of as Union Pines managed just one hit in the 12-0 loss, which was cut short at three innings after the rain delay according to a mutual decision from both teams’ coaches.

In game two, Union Pines grabbed an early 1-0 lead when three-hole hitter Jeffrey Thompson blasted a double to left center to score Mason Collins, who had opened the contest by getting aboard with a walk.

However, two Viking errors in the bottom half of the first allowed the Raiders to tie the game at 1-all without even swinging the bat. Richmond plated three runs in the bottom of the third on three hits, three walks and a sacrifice to lead 4-1.

Three Vike errors led to three more Richmond runs, as the home team took a 7-1 lead through four innings of play. The score held up, as Union Pines went down in order in the top of the fifth and final inning.

With the loss, Union Pines dropped to 3-9-1 on the summer, while the Raiders improved to 11-0 in CCSSL action. The Vikings return to action Thursday at their home field in Cameron, for a 6 p.m. game against West Stanly following the junior varsity game that starts at 4 p.m.