Poplar Bluff pitcher Brandy Perry and catcher Kelly Kelm walk off the field after retiring the side against Kelly on Tuesday at Bacon Park. (Brian Rosener/DAR)

By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

Facing the same hard-throwing Kelly pitcher that shut them out with a one-hitter a week earlier, the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules kept their winning streak alive with a 6-3 win Tuesday.

Jerica Wawak's RBI single broke a 3-3 tie before a two-out, tworun single by Breanna Moore in the fourth inning for the Lady Mules, who have won three straight and eight of their last 10.

"Anyone throwing that fast, if you make solid contact it's going to get out of the infield," said Poplar Bluff coach Dustin Benson of facing Kelly's Danielle Dock.

The Lady Mules (13-8) scored three times in the first inning against starter Heather Beggs and still led when Dock came in for relief with two on and nobody out in the second. Dock pitched out of the jam, retiring six straight before Kelly rallied to tie the game with three runs in the top of the fourth.

Poplar Bluff pitcher Brandy Perry wiggled out of a jam of her own in the fourth to keep the game tied. The junior got a strikeout and a groundout with two runners in scoring position to end the threat.

Benson said keeping the Lady Hawks (16-4) from taking the lead was huge for his team.

"That probably would have affect us, because most of the time when they get ahead, we get down (mentally), badly," said Poplar Bluff senior Alex West, who tied a school record with her fourth home run of the season in the first inning.

The score wasn't tied for long.

Meagan Stucker led off the bottom of the fourth with a bloop single to right field to start Poplar Bluff's rally. The senior stole second before Perry moved her to third with a ground out after fouling off three two-strike pitches.

Benson said the plan was for Perry to bunt the runner to second but Stucker didn't see that she missed and stole the base instead thanks in part to a high throw. With one out and Stucker on third, Benson thought about a squeeze play but let No. 9 hitter swing away.

"Thank God I didn't because it worked out for us," he said. "I had a little faith in them and they usually do good stuff for you."

Wawak singled down the first-base line off the glove of the first baseman to put the Lady Mules ahead. Hailey Foust then drew a walk on a full count and a wild pitch moved them up a base. With two outs, Moore hit a soft liner up the middle over Dock's reach to give Poplar Bluff the 6-3 lead.

"I guess since we hit against her last week we were use to her a little bit more so," West said. "I didn't do any better but everybody else did, so that was good."

West hit a pitch by Beggs to deep center field in the first inning and rounded the bases for her fourth home run of the season. That tied a school record shared by three players -- Tammie Vanderburg (1980), Adrienne Killian (2000) and Kristen Ploetze ('04) -- and gave the Lady Mules a 3-0 lead.

Foust started the rally with a walk and later scored on an error while Moore reached second safely with one out. West's blast easily scored Moore and she beat the throw to the plate standing up after running past Benson with his arms in the air at third.

Poplar Bluff's Meagan Stucker slides into second base as shortstop Londyn Backfisch reaches for the throw as Stucker steals in the fourth inning Tuesday at Bacon Park. (Brian Rosener/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

"I saw him put his hands up (to) stop but he looked out in the outfield so I thought it was out (there) and (I) really wanted it, so I went," West said. "I didn't mean to disobey him but it was worth it."

Said Benson, "It worked out."

West made a leaping catch in center field running back for the second out of the first inning, the first of many defensive gems by the Lady Mules. Sophomore second baseman Haley Bishop caught a line drive heading up the middle to end the inning and Perry snared another liner to end the second.

After the Lady Mules pulled ahead, Beggs started Kelly's fifth with a slap single but Moore made a diving catch behind second base for the first out.

"That was an unbelievable play," Benson said. "That's huge. Had that went through, they probably have first and third …

"Then we're back to square one and who knows what would have happened had that fallen."

Mattox made a running catch in the right-field gap for the second out and Perry finished the inning with a strike out on a low fastball. Kelly went in order in the sixth and seventh as Perry retired nine straight to end the game.

Perry struck out two, walked none and gave up five hits but it didn't look like the junior might pitch after getting hit in her non-pitching arm before the game. As the Lady Hawks were taking infield, Perry was warming up on the side behind third base when an errant throw hit her elbow.

Just minutes earlier while a teammate was looking for a glove to protect her, Perry said, "If we get hit, we get hit."

After some ice and warm-up tosses, Perry extended her streak of innings without giving up a walk to 54.

"If we don't have Brandy then we're in some big trouble right there," West said. "We were all pretty worried about it."