BUCYRUS — The Bucyrus Lady Red needed a get-well game.

After taking some lumps in the powerful Northern 10 Athletic Conference, Bucyrus got a much-needed respite against Lucas.

The Lady Red scored 17 runs in the first two innings — including 11 in the first — and then cruised to a 17-4 victory over the Lady Cubs.

“The first inning we came out and scored 11 runs,” Bucyrus coach Mike Middleton said. “The girls were on fire the first inning. We really had better approaches today. They were a lot more aggressive, and they ran the bases well. The ball hit the gap, and they were running.”

After starting pitcher Bell Bruss retired the Cubs in the top of the first, the Lady Red offense exploded in the bottom of the frame.

Karlee Shull led off with a walk and one out later, Marissa Middleton drove her in with an inside-the-park home run, the first example of Coach Middleton’s mention of aggressive base running.

Three hit batters and a walk supplied base runners galore and the bats took advantage. Bruss and Peyton Fackler tripled in the inning, Haylee Stratton doubled, and Middleton singled for second hit of the inning as Bucyrus (2-8) sent 15 batters to the plate.

Lucas pitcher Maddie Boyer struggled in the circle through the first two innings before finding her groove.

“The mound is not what she’s used to. It’s hard out there,” Lucas coach Jaclyn Alt explained. “She can’t get her drag foot in and her landing foot wasn’t getting any traction either. That just started out not great, but once she got it figured out, she was good to go.”

The Lady Red tacked on six more in the second. Maddie Kent led off with a double. After the next two were out, Shull and Fackler singled, Stratton doubled, and Bruss drilled her second triple as Bucyrus batted around.

The Cubs got on the board in the third with three runs. Three walks and two Lady Red errors along with a single by Grace Green — which drove in two of the runs — fueled the mini-rally.

Five Lucas (3-7) errors, three hit batters, and two walks helped pour gasoline on the fire early.

“We lately have been doing that. We start with a couple errors and they just stack onto each other and we’re in that situation,” Alt said. “We’ve got to figure out how to limit the errors, limit the walks, and get back to a good, solid game.”

Boyer went the distance for the Cubs with five strikeouts and two walks, finishing with scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth.

Bruss pitched the first three innings for Bucyrus, striking out three and walking five, while giving up just one hit and three unearned runs. Fackler tossed the final two frames in her first appearance in the circle. She fanned two and walked none.

“They missed a couple of cutoffs here and there and we took advantage of it,” Middleton said. “I thought our base stealing was better tonight. We got a lot better jumps.”

Alt thought it benefited her team to play an N10 team since the Cubs will be joining the conference.

“We move to the N10 in a couple of years,” Alt said. “It’s good to see what we’re up against.”

Middleton viewed the game as an elixir for his team.

“First home win, big confidence builder,” Middleton said. “It was about time to be on the other side of a lopsided game. This was the time.”

Box score

Lucas          003 01X X        4       2       5

Bucyrus (11)60 0XX X      17     11      4

WP: Bell Bruss (3 SO, 5 W)

LP: Maddie Boyer (5 SO, 2 W)

HR: (B) Marissa Middleton.

Triples: (B) Bell Bruss 2, Peyton Fackler.

Doubles: (B) Karlee Shull, Haylee Stratton, Maddie Kent.

Multiple hits: (B) Karlee Shull 3, Peyton Fackler, Marissa Middleton, Bell Bruss.

Records: Lucas 3-7; Bucyrus 2-8.

Next: Kidron Central Christian at Lucas, Saturday; Triad at Bucyrus, Saturday.