POPLARVILLE — Seven runs in the sixth inning propelled the Lady Hornets past Picayune for a 10-0 win Monday night.

At the beginning of the sixth inning, Poplarville’s Hannah Blanchard reached first base after hitting the ball into centerfield.

Afterwards, Karlee Rodriguez replaced Blanchard as a pinch runner and after a wild pitch by Picayune’s Devin Frierson, Rodriguez stole second and third bases.

After Harley Blanchard was walked to first, Gracie Raby hit the ball in the middle of the diamond and even though she was tagged out at first, Rodriguez scored for the Lady Hornets, giving the team a 4-0 lead.

The next batter, Kayleigh Netto, was also walked to first base and she also stole second moments later. With runners on third and second, Aislynn Andrews hit the ball deep into left field, allowing Blanchard and Netto to reach home plate, giving Poplarville a 6-0 lead with one out in the inning.

With Andrews on second base, Cassidy Cartwright hit her first homerun of the season by driving the ball past the wall in centerfield and giving the Lady Hornets an 8-0 advantage.

Four batters later, the Lady Hornets (3-0) were able to load the bases and after two wild pitches from Frierson, Rakeya Travis and Manya Gilmore scored for Poplarville, bringing the game to an end.

“We’re capable of hitting the ball the way we did tonight, but for some reason, we weren’t doing it early in the game,” Poplarville Softball Head Coach Jonathan Ray said. “Hats off to Picayune’s pitcher, she did a great job of keeping us off-balanced but we made some adjustments as the game went on and we were able to get the win.”

Travis scored the first run of the game after a hit single by Hannah in the fourth inning. During the next inning, Andrews and Cartwright extended the team’s lead to 3-0.

Andrews batted 2-for-2 with two doubles and had two RBIs, Cartwright went 1-for-3 with a two-run homerun and Travis was 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.

On the mound, Victoria Pertuit earned the win after pitching for 3 2/3 innings and allowing four hits and striking out two batters.

The Lady Hornets will travel to Bay High School and Hancock County Thursday and Saturday respectively.

For the Lady Tide, Sarah Stockstill went 2-for-3 with a double, Millie Stewart was 2-for-3 and Sarah Walker and Rianna McNeely each batted 1-for-2.

Picayune (0-4) will travel to Harrison Central Friday night and to face East Central and Biloxi at Biloxi High School on Saturday.

“We played a quality team and I thought we played them well for a few innings but we’re not doing the little things that we need to do to win ballgames,” Picayune Softball Head Coach Kristi Mitchell said. “Poplarville did a great job and they’re well coached and tomorrow, we’ll regroup because our road doesn’t get any easier. We have to prepare for tough opponents such as East Central and Biloxi this weekend, so we have to be ready to play.”