Greenville's Jacob Wood, right, collides with Neelyville pitcher Austin Russom after a force play at first base Thursday in Greenville. (Brad Hurt/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

GREENVILLE -- After seeing an early five-run advantage dwindle in the later innings the Neelyville Tigers escaped with a 7-4 win Thursday at Greenville.

"We got our offense early and that's not the problem," Neelyville coach Jared Beaird said. "It's early that we do better but it's the 3-4-5 innings that we struggle."

The Tigers (6-5) had their bats working from the start as they put three runs on the board in the first inning. A walk by Jamie Norden and a single by Caleb Dockins set up a two-run single to center by Austin Russom. Russom then scored on a double to right by Zack Talbott to put the Tigers on top 3-0.

The Tigers struggled after scoring two more in the second as Greenville pitcher Joey Morey settled down. Neelyville scored on an RBI double by Mitchell Dennis and an RBI single by Russom but the Tigers had only one hit after that until the sixth.

"It was a pitchers' duel through the middle innings, and if take that bad first inning you for us away it probably is a 1-0 ballgame," Greenville coach Jason Hill said.

The Bears (5-7) managed only six hits in the with three coming in the second and third innings.

Robert Abernathy's single in the third scored Nick Wren and D.J. Robinson to put the Bears on the board. Morey had a single in the second for the Bears' first hit of the .

Abernathy pulled game them to within a run at 5-4 in the fifth as he hit a home run to right-center off Russom who relieved Jordan Thomas after the fourth, with Robinson on first following a walk.

"It was too little too late," Hill said. "You'd like to see your guys hitting the ball, but it's got to be a contagious thing. It's got to go all the way up and down the lineup."

Russom provided the Tigers with a pair of insurance runs in the sixth driving in Jamie Norden and Garrett Griffin with a single.

Thomas got the win as he held the Bears to two runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out two.

Beaird said the combination of his two pitchers along with solid defense played a part in the win.

"Jordan Thomas did a real good job, but he ran out of gas there in the fifth inning," Beaird said. "Austin Russom came in and threw strikes. We really limited our errors today behind them, and when

look at Jordan and look at you

Austin they're a pretty good one-two."

Abernathy and Morey each went 2-for-4 to lead Greenville, while Robinson scored twice.

Russom finished the day 3-for-4 with five RBIs for Neelyville. Dennis, Dockins, Talbott and Griffin each had a pair of hits.

With district tournaments looming in the near future, the Tigers gained confidence with this win while the Bears suffered a disappointing setback.

"What's big about that game is that we've got three or four more games to string together some wins before district play," Beaird said.

Hill said his team is sometimes trying too hard not to make mistakes.

"You start pressing a lot whenever you're not playing well and that's what we're doing right now," he said.