Pike County’s comeback effort fell short in a 5-3 loss to the Luverne Lady Tigers on Thursday.

Senkeithia Thompson led the Bulldogs on the mound, in what head coach Fawn Sims believes was one of the more complete game efforts her team has showed all season long.

“Kiki (Thompson) threw a great ballgame,” Sims said. “We made just a few mistakes. We didn’t get a lot of hits, but we put the ball in play. Minus our few mistakes it was a back and forth ballgame. Today’s game, with exception of the Wicksburg game, was the most solid game we have played.”

After falling behind 5-0 early, Thompson settled down and kept her team in the game throughout the game. She threw all seven innings for the Bulldogs in the loss while racking up 14 strikeouts. All five runs allowed were unearned. 

“I can’t say enough about how she pitched,” Sims said. “She pitched a solid game and she kept them guessing. All of her pitches worked really well.”

Heather Maxwell led the Bulldogs at the plate by going 2-4 with an RBI, while Aubrey Maulden, Jordan Carlisle and Anna Price each went 1-3

With the regular season quickly coming to and, the Bulldogs to be playing their best game of the season in advance of the area tournament.

“We have made some changes over the week to try and eliminate our mistakes,” Sims said. “We have the seven days off. I wish we had more games, between now and Thursday. For us we need to be playing. This is time for us to come together and be on the up and up.”

The Bulldogs will be back in action next Thursday when they participate in the Elba tournament.