LUMBERTON — The Purnell Swett softball team was given some extra scoring opportunities during Tuesday’s game at Lumberton due to two Pirates errors.

The Rams cashed in, with four unearned runs propelling them to a 7-2 win over their rivals.

“The good thing is we got runners on base and were able to capitalize, and got the hit when we needed it,” Purnell Swett coach William Deese said. “We had some big hits there in the last couple of innings. That’s the thing about this team, they swing the bat and it’s hard to keep them down. We just continue to swing the bats and move the runners over.”

Marijo Wilkes was a key contributor for Purnell Swett (5-1, 5-1 Sandhills Athletic Conference) at the top of the lineup, reaching base four times with two hits, two runs and two RBIs.

The two RBIs came on a single in the second inning, scoring Bella Finelli and Nyla Mitchell to give the Rams the lead, which they never gave up. Wilkes stole home in the fourth and scored again in the sixth as one of two Rams to cross home plate after an error in the Pirates outfield, extending the Rams lead to 6-2.

“Last week I didn’t do so good, so this week I knew I had to get out of my own head and just hit the ball and stop trying to overdo it, and I just had to settle down and look for my pitch, instead of swinging at everything,” Wilkes said. “Instead of swinging for the fences, I had to slow my swing down and adjust to the pitcher.”

Summer Bullard pitched all seven innings for Purnell Swett, holding Lumberton (3-4, 2-4 SAC) to two runs — none earned — on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. This comes after Bullard’s status for the rest of the season was in doubt last week due to a shoulder injury.

“It was really big for her knowing that she can come back and finish this season,” Wilkes said. “I think that helped us a lot, with our momentum, knowing that she can come back and play, because against Jack Britt it killed us when we thought she was going to be out for the rest of the season.”

Halona Sampson took the loss for Lumberton, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing two earned runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

“She’s had some hard luck with our scores; she’s had a lot of unearned runs,” Lumberton coach Mackie Register said. “We’ve got to get better on defense; the one thing that I’ve branded our program on is playing good defense, but we’re still not there yet. I think once we do that, if it starts clicking on defense, we’re going to be in a lot tighter games and maybe these good teams that we’re playing, maybe we can get a win against some of them.”

Wilkes’ two-RBI single gave Purnell Swett a 2-0 lead in the second; the Rams added a fourth-inning run on the Wilkes steal of home, which came after she stole third base and, after a short pause, continued running, catching the Pirates defense off guard.

Lumberton got on the board when Syniah Lancaster reached on a single and scored on a Rams error in the fourth inning; the Rams got the run back in the top of the fifth on a Finelli RBI double to score Torrie Butler, making it 4-1.

The Pirates again got within two runs in the bottom of the fifth, when Jaylyn Herndon scored on an error to make it 4-2. The two unearned runs in the sixth, as Wilkes and Chandra Locklear scored on an error, made it 6-2, and a solo home run by Nyla Mitchell in the seventh stretched the gap to 7-2.

Lumberton, who had six players with one hit each, left the bases loaded in the fifth and two on in the seventh.

“It should have been a lot closer than it was,” Register said. “Two outs, in two different innings, we made some plays that we should make if we’re going to win ballgames. We didn’t make those plays and they ended up scoring four runs off of it. And then one time we had runners at second and third and we didn’t put the ball in play where we could have scored a run.”

Lumberton hosts Hoke County Wednesday and Purnell Swett plays at Richmond.

Purnell Swett girls soccer defeats Lumberton

The Purnell Swett girls soccer team earned a 3-1 win Tuesday at Lumberton.

The game was scoreless at halftime, and Purnell Swett (3-3-1, 3-3-1 SAC) scored a go-ahead goal with about 25 minutes to go.

Lumberton (1-5, 1-5 SAC) made the strategic move to put starting goalkeeper Diamond Harris in the field to try to generate some offense, but allowed two late goals in the process.

From a 3-0 deficit, Lumberton scored with six minutes remaining when Esmeralda Baldazo scored off the rebound of Harris’ free kick.

Lumberton hosts Jack Britt on Monday; Purnell Swett plays Wednesday at Richmond.