Loyd Star High scored thee runs in the seventh inning to defeat Natchez High 6-3 here Tuesday in the Lady Bulldogs season-opener.

“That one bad inning always comes back to get you,” said Natchez High head softball coach Sue Johnson. “It did us in.”

While preferring a win, Johnson was proud of her troops against a Lady Hornet team that has played five games.

“I was impressed with our girls,” said Johnson, who returns six starters off of last year’s Division 6-5A championship team.

Becky Smith picked up the win for Loyd Star, while DeLisa Lewis was tagged with the loss.

Sherrelle Fitzgerald led the Lady Bulldogs at the plate with four singles in four at-bats.

Kelly Fuller singled three times in four trips to the plate.

Rainne McPhate connected on a double and single in three at-bats, while Camethia Mazique and Lesley Patrick added two singles.

After two scoreless innings, Natchez took a 2-0 lead with a couple of runs in the third stanza.

Loyd Star got on the board in the fourth inning with two runs to tie the game.

The Lady Hornets pushed another run across the plate in the fifth for a 3-2 lead.

Natche tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning, but the Lady Hornets answered with three runs in the top of the seventh for the win.

“We’re going to definitely get better,” Johnson said. “We hung in there tough with them. I think we got the jitters out of the way. Our defense did a good job. When we get to working on our bats, it’s going to be a different story.”

Natchez High hosts Franklin County on Thursday.