The Pike Lady Patriots saw themselves fall behind early and could never recover in a 9-3 loss to area foe Northside Methodist on Monday evening.

The loss for the Patriots drops their record on the season to 11-14.

Dannah Dawson got the start for the Patriots on Monday night. She allowed eight runs over four innings, four of which were earned on seven hits and one walk.

Meagan Faulk pitched the final three innings and allowed one run on two hits and struck out four batters.

The Patriots finished with seven hits. Katelyn Dendy and Faulk led with the way with two hits each while Morgan Bundy, Danielle Brown and Madison Johnson each had one.

The Patriots fell behind 2-0 in the first, but cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning when Brown singled to shortstop to score Morgan Bundy.

The Knights added a run in the second and two more in the third to take a 5-1 lead. In the fifth the Knights put the game away by putting up four runs on three hits to take a 9-1 lead.

The Patriots scored one run in the fifth when Maggie Phelps hit a sacrifice fly to score Ashlyn Atwell.

The Patriots scored their final run in the seventh inning when Phelps grounded out to score Dendy.

The Patriots will be back in action this afternoon when they take on Lakeside in a double-header. If the Patriots win just one of the games, they will clinch a first round home game in the state tournament.