The Cornersville Bulldogs' chances of claiming the top seed in the upcoming District 11-A tournament went up in smoke on Tuesday night when they lost 3-1 to the first place Richland Raiders at home.

After defeating CHS 16-6 the previous evening, Richland (12-7, 10-0) was locked in a 0-0 tie with Cornersville through the first four innings of play before scoring three runs over the next three frames to seize a 3-0 lead.

Comeback try

The Bulldogs (10-11, 8-2 District) tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the seventh and trimmed the deficit to 3-1, but Raider relief pitcher Andrew Jones managed to escape a bases loaded jam to give Richland the sweep of the regular season series.

Cornersville starting pitcher David Looney was the tough luck loser on the mound, as he limited the Raiders to three hits and a walk in six innings of work while recording seven strikeouts. Cody Blackburn then came on in relief of Looney and pitched a perfect seventh inning after starting the game at catcher.

Jordan Hale (1 RBI), Drew Abernathy (1 RBI), and Carson all singled to account for all three Richland hits.

Five hits

The Bulldogs offense sputtered for much of the afternoon, as they mustered just five hits and two walks against two Raider hurlers.

Neil Davis notched two hits to pace CHS at the plate, while Tyler Lowery, Jacob Griffis, and Matt Callender each had one hit with Lowery driving in Cornersville's lone run of the game.

Richland starting pitcher Ben Smith picked up the victory after yielding three hits and a walk in four scoreless innings of work. Jones then took the hill and registered five strikeouts over the final three innings while allowing one run on two hits and a walk en route to earning the save.

The Bulldogs had a chance to take the lead early in the contest when they put runners on first and second with one out thanks to a leadoff single by Davis and a Zach Richards walk, but Smith retired the next two CHS batters on a fielder's choice and a groundout to snuff out the threat.

Raider scoring

Richland left a man at second base in the top of the fourth, but finally broke the scoreless stalemate by pushing a across a run in the fifth inning to grab a 1-0 lead.

Following a leadoff walk by Abernathy, Chance Derryberry reached base on an error while Abernathy advanced to third on the play. Abernathy then raced home on an infield single by Hale to put the Raiders up.

In the top of the sixth, Richland tacked on two more runs thanks to a hit batsman, an Edwards single, a RBI single by Abernathy, and a Derryberry sacrifice fly to open up a 3-0 advantage.

The Bulldogs tried to engineer a comeback in the bottom of the seventh and cut the deficit to 3-1 when Richards scored on a two-out RBI single by Tyler Lowery after being hit by a pitch and advancing to second on a Jody Sullivan walk. Tate Lowery then reached first on an error to load the bases, but Jones struck out the next Cornersville hitter to end the game.