Three Rivers' Jared Hughes reacts after hitting a fly ball Sunday against Florissant Valley at Raider Field. (Alex Abate/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

The Raiders earned a split with Florissant Valley on Sunday afternoon winning the first gam 6-5, before losing the second, 12-4, ending an eight-game winning streak.

After Florissant Valley got two runs in the top of the seventh inning of the opener to tie the game, but the Raiders rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the frame.

With one out, Chad Wynn singled and stole second. Nick D'Amico walked and Anthony Gower was hit with an 0-2 count to load the bases. Jared Hughes got the game-winning RBI on a walk that scored Wynn.

"I think that says a lot about the makeup of our team," Raiders coach Stacey Burkey said. "We have been able to come from behind here late and step up big. We are not pressing in those situations but are very aggressive."

Hughes has been huge for the Raiders (17-11 10-6 XVI) lately, as he also had an RBI single Saturday that drove in a winning run against Forest Park.

"That is a funny thing about baseball is you never know what situation you will be in," Raiders coach Stacey Burkey said. "(Hughes has) found himself right in the middle of key spots and hopefully that will continue and he can produce in those situations."

Florissant Valley took a 2-1 lead after it added one run in the fifth before the Raiders battled back to regain the lead at 5-2 with four runs in the bottom half. Tyler Smith led the inning off with a home run to left field to tie the 2-2. Nate Booker walked and later scored on a Mitch Thomson single to make it 3-2 and with two outs Gower singled two drive in two and make it 5-2.

Josh Cruse threw 5 1/3 innings for the Raiders and had seven strikeouts while giving up just two earned runs. Ryne Millsap got the win for the Raiders as he pitched 1 2/3 innings. He came in with the bases loaded and just one down in the sixth and struck out two to preserve a 5-3 lead.

Millsap gave up a home run in the seventh but then retired the next three to set the table for the Raiders' bottom half. Burkey liked how Millsap battled especially after giving up the home run.

"Millsap was coming right at him and that is what we wanted to do in those situations," Burkey said. "He has been very consistent."

In the second game, the Raiders fell in an early 5-2 hole before Florissant Valley scored five runs in the sixth inning to make it 10-4.

"They had a lot of balls that just found the holes and we hit a lot of balls well that didn't find the holes," Burkey said.

After splitting over the weekend, the Raiders will face Florissant Valley again at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

"They are a very dangerous team," Burkey said. "They swung the bats well against us and are free swingers that are care-free and aggressive."