Friday on Jan Delaughter Field, the defending 2A softball state champion Lake Hornets moved runners up and around the bases with speed and precision in a 4-0 win in the first game of a second-round playoff series against the hosts from Loyd Star.

Loyd Star coach Scott Leggett’s assessment was simple in what his team would have to do on Saturday when they traveled to Lake for game two.

“We’ve got to play better,” said Leggett. “We’ve got to cut down on our mistakes and play better ball.”

Leggett’s team answered that call on Saturday and won 10-6 on the road in game two. The winner-take-all third game begins at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Loyd Star.

On Saturday, Loyd Star (22-6) fell behind 3-0 after the first inning as early errors gave Lake (20-9) all they needed to get going offensively.

The start was similar to how things began on Friday when Lake went up 1-0 in the first inning as that run moved into scoring position via a wild pitch.

The momentum snowballed in game one in the third inning for Lake as they then went on to score three runs in that frame to take control of the game.

The third inning again proved to be one of consequence on Saturday, but this time for Loyd Star as the Hornets scored seven runs in the third inning to break out of its offensive drought.

The Hornets got on the board first when senior Baylee Zumbro hit a double that scored Aubrey Britt.

First baseman Marley Britt hit a two-out double later in the inning that scored three runs and then scored herself later in the inning on an error by Lake.

Loyd Star out-hit Lake 14-9 in game two after being outhit 6-3 on Friday in the game one loss.

Zumbro finished with three hits, as did Aubrey Britt. Junior Alyssa Britt and seventh grader Maddie Kate Britt had two hits each. Marley Britt, Carson Hughey, Abby Burnette and Layla Burt had one hit each.

A seventh-grader, Burt was the winning pitcher for the Hornets. She threw 107 pitches over seven innings. She struck out six, didn’t walk anyone and didn’t give up an earned run.

The winner of game three tonight moves on to face Stringer in the quarterfinal round.