After defeating Culleoka 8-1 the previous evening to clinch the second seed in the upcoming District 11-A tournament, the Cornersville Bulldogs were forced to settle for a split in the regular season series with their conference rival when they suffered a 5-3 road loss to the Warriors on Tuesday night.

Cornersville (12-13, 9-3 District) held a 1-0 lead through the first two innings of play, but Culleoka scored five runs in the bottom of the third to seize a 5-1 advantage before staving off a late Bulldog rally attempt.

Hitting spree

Bolstered by their third inning outburst, the Warriors (10-10-1, 8-4 District) finished with 14 hits against Cornersville starting pitcher Matt Callender, who went the distance on the mound and suffered the loss.

Culleoka got contributions throughout their lineup, as Jonathan Harris (2 RBI), Chuck Adams (1 RBI), Hayden Love (1 RBI), Brian Greene, catcher Ty Daly, and Grayson Kennedy each tallied two hits, while starting pitcher Will Fly and Joe Mendes both had one hit.

Fly also turned in a solid effort on the mound and scattered seven hits and four walks in seven innings of work en route to picking up the win.

Catcher Cody Blackburn went 2-for-3 with a RBI to pace the Bulldogs at the plate, while Jacob Griffis (1 RBI), Tyler Lowery, Tate Lowery, Neil Davis, and Zach Richards each notched one hit.

Early lead

Cornersville grabbed an early 1-0 lead by pushing across a run in the top of first inning on three hits. Following a two-out double by Blackburn, courtesy runner Nate Huitt advanced to third on a single by Davis before scoring on a Griffis RBI single.

After the Bulldogs left runners on first and second in the top of the second, the Warriors loaded the bases in the bottom half of the frame on singles by Harris, Adams, and Love. Culleoka was unable to cash in on the opportunity, as Callender retired the next three Culleoka batters on a pair of strikeouts and a pop out to escape the jam.

In the top of the third, Cornersville had another chance to pad their lead after loading the bases with two outs, but Daly picked off the runner at third to snuff out the Bulldog threat.

That missed opportunity would quickly come back to haunt Cornersville, as the Warriors crossed home plate five times in the bottom of the third on the strength of a Harris two-run double, a RBI single by Adams, a Love RBI double, and a RBI single by Kennedy to take a 5-1 lead.

Coming back

The Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 5-2 in the top of the fifth when Tate Lowery raced home on a sacrifice fly by Blackburn after belting a leadoff double into the right centerfield gap.

Cornersville then narrowed the gap to 5-3 by plating a run in the sixth inning with the help of a one-out walk by Callender and a Culleoka throwing error.

The Bulldogs brought the potential winning run to the plate in the top of the seven after putting men on first and second with one out thanks to a Blackburn walk and a Warrior error, but Fly induced the next Cornersville batter to hit into a double play to clinch the victory for the Warriors.