Playing in their third of four conference series against ranked opponents to open MACCC play, the Lady Bears put forth a good effort Thursday against No. 14 Northeast Mississippi, but some mistakes and inconsistency hurt Southwest as the Lady Bears fell to the Lady Tigers 4-2 in Game 1 and 8-1 in Game 2.

"We made too many mistakes, and you have to have breaks too, and we didn't get the breaks," Southwest head coach Shea Johnson said.

In Game 1, the Lady Bears (12-12, 1-7) fell behind 2-0 in the first inning after a two RBI single. Afterward, Lady Bear starter Lauren Mounce had to exit the game with an injury and did not return.

In stepped fellow freshman Abbey Pevey who finished the inning during the ensuing at bat. Unfortunately, the Southwest offense couldn't answer back in the first inning.

Pevey mostly held the Lady Tigers in check over the next two innings allowing only three base runners. She got some help from her offense in the third as Londyn Robertson singled and later scored when Liberty Gillihan doubled to center, cutting the Northeast lead in half at 2-1.

The Southwest score was unfortunately answered the following inning when a sacrifice fly and an error resulted in two Northeast runs increasing the Lady Bears' deficit to 4-1. Pevey quickly regrouped and got out of the inning before keeping the Lady Tigers grounded in the fifth.

In her first action in the circle in her collegiate career, Erin Acey came on to pitch in the sixth in relief of Pevey and picked up where her teammate left off. Acey didn't allow any runs over 2.0 innings of work, giving up only two hits and one walk while striking out one.

Despite the strong pitching, the offense had trouble following suit as the Lady Bears fell in Game 1.

Gillihan, Maggie Wilks and Acey led the Lady Bear offense with two hits apiece.

In Game 2, once again the Lady Tigers got things going on offense early on, plating a single run in the first inning.

Acey, who got the start, settled down in the second, sitting the Lady Tigers down in order.

However, Northeast got into rhythm in the third and began to pull away, plating five additional runs to take a 6-0 lead.

Southwest was down, but not out as the Lady Bears got their offense going in the third. With two runners on and two out, Alyssa Leggett singled to left bringing Anlyssa Richardson home and cutting into the Northeast lead making it a 6-1 game.

But the visitors answered with a single run in both the fourth and sixth innings making the score the eventual final.

In addition to Acey logging time at pitcher, the Lady Bears also relied on Anne Claire Sistrunk who made just her second appearance of the season in the circle before Karleigh Daze' finished the game.

After the game, Coach Johnson praised Acey and Sistrunk for stepping in and performing well in a position they are new to on the collegiate level.

Leggett led the Lady Bear offense with a hit and an RBI.

The Lady Bears will be back in action on Saturday as they make the drive to Moorhead to face Mississippi Delta at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.