UPPER SANDUSKY — Having taken a punch, the Bucyrus Lady Redmen were in a virtual must-win situation if they were to achieve their goal of a Northern 10 Athletic Conference championship.

On Wednesday, Upper Sandusky edged the Redmen, 3-2, at Bucyrus to throw the league into a tie at the top. Thursday, Bucyrus went to the Rams’ home field and answered in spades.

The Redmen used a six-run fourth inning to blow the game open and rode the 12-strikeout pitching of Caleigh Rister to retain control of their own destiny in the league with a 16-5 victory.

“I put a challenge to them. I said it’s not that you get knocked down, it’s not that you get roughed up,” Bucyrus coach Jerry Hargis said. “But how do you react? And they showed me tonight and that was impressive to me.”

Bucyrus (15-3, 12-2 N10) jumped on Rams’ starter Liv Gier for two runs in the first inning — the total the Redmen had off Gier in seven innings on Wednesday. Addy Rister singled with one out and Caleigh Rister singled to left.

The ball got by the left fielder for an error and Addy Rister scored. Caleigh Rister scored on a single by Jade Torres.

From there, Caleigh Rister put goose eggs on the scoreboard for the first here innings.

“I knew how much this game meant,” Rister said. “So, I put a little more pressure on myself and really needed to know that I had to zone in.”

The Redmen added three runs in the third. The big blow in the inning was a two-run double to left field by Ashley Davis.

“I told them we are not going to stand there and watch the ball go by,” Hargis said. “We had six or seven of those (Wednesday), standing there and we never swung at it. A little bit of a challenge, a little bit of their will and that’s where it went. I’m proud of them.”

Bucyrus used four hits and a pair of Upper Sandusky (13-8, 11-3) errors to score six times in the fourth. Taisha Spears drove in two runs and Davis and Caleigh Rister had one each, to forge an 11-0 advantage, knocking Gier out of the circle.

“We went up to the plate with a purpose and we jumped on pitches that were strikes, that were in the zone and, ultimately, we outhit them,” Caleigh Rister said.

The Rams avoided a shortened game by run rule by answering with three in the bottom of the fourth. They got a single from Jenna Clary, A double by Alyse Swartz and a Bucyrus error.

“We didn’t quit. We had some nice hits,” Upper Sandusky coach Luke Swavel said. “We probably had more barrel shots tonight than we did (Wednesday). But they just didn’t fall. They played good defense. Bucyrus did a great job. Take nothing away from them.”

The Rams added single runs in the fifth and the seventh, but the Redmen had another big inning in the seventh to leave no doubt, scoring five times. Five straight singles to lead off the frame mixed with three wild pitches did the trick.

Caleigh Rister led a 17-hit Bucyrus attack with four hits including a triple. Torres and Spears had three singles each, Haley Dye and Addy Rister had two singles, Davis had a double and Faith Schifer and Natalie Hankins each singled.

Swartz had three hits for Upper Sandusky, including a double. Brooke Swavel and Bailey Fox had two singles apiece while Clary and Jade Holman each singled.

“They played tight defense and they played a little bit better ball game than we did today,” Swavel said.

When asked about his rooting interests the rest of the regular season, Hargis was coy.

“I’ll read the scores. That’s really all I can say,” Hargis said. “I love this game and the way these kids play and compete.”

“We’ve still got two games left against a very good Mohawk team,” Swavel said. “And then we start tournaments on Tuesday. The season’s not over. We’re still playing ball.”

Box score

Bucyrus                      203 600 5      16     17       2

Upper Sandusky    000 310 1         5       9       3

WP: Caleigh Rister (12 SO, 2 W)

LP: Liv Gier (1 SO, 1 W)

HR: None.

Triples: (B) Caleigh Rister.

Doubles: (B) Ashley Davis; (US) Alyse Swartz.

Multiple hits: (B) Caleigh Rister 4, Jade Torres 3, Taisha Spears 3, Haley Dye, Addy Rister; (US) Alyse Swartz 3, Brooke Swavel, Bailey Fox .

Records: Bucyrus 15-3, 12-2 N10; Upper Sandusky 13-8, 11-3 N10.

Next: Buckeye Central at Bucyrus, Friday; Upper Sandusky at Mohawk, Friday.