Photo by Cody Nespor Wheeling Park pitcher Dalaney Theiss fires home during a game against St. Clairsville Tuesday.

WHEELING — St. Clairsville let a lead, and the game, slip away during a disastrous third inning Tuesday at the brand-new Wheeling Park softball complex.

The Red Devils (0-1) held a 4-1 lead when the Patriots (2-4) came to bat in the bottom of the third inning, but Park pushed across 12 runs in the frame — aided by six walks — to bust the game wide open.

“I just think our batters timed the pitcher a little bit better and they started putting the ball in play,” said Park coach Patrick Durkin. “You’ve got to get, usually, one time through the order and then you hope the second time you’ll be able to hit.”

St. Clairsville starter Lainey Benedict struggled to throw strikes from the outset and Park finally made her pay in the bottom of the third.

St. C. led 4-2 when Isabelle Thomas came up to bat with the bases loaded. She drove in a pair of runs with a double to tie the game at 4 and then Lauren Nolte hit a two-run double of her own in the next at-bat to put Park up 6-4. Two batters later, Mary Derrow stroked her own two-run double to make the score 8-4.

Durkin said his team did a good job of being patient at the plate Tuesday, not just in drawing walks — which they did 13 times — but also in waiting for good pitches to swing at.

“When pitchers struggle, they’re going to try to throw strikes,” Durkin said. “You have to be patient enough to wait for that good strike and then attack it.”

Benedict recorded just one out in the bottom of the third and was lifted for Emily Dubinsky after Park made it 11-4 on a bases-loaded walk by Katelyn Kozlowski.

“She just struggled getting it over (the plate) today,” St. Clairsville coach Richard Magruder said of Benedict. “We knew we were going to struggle with pitching early in the year. We’re a work in progress but if we can just get the ball around the plate and make them put it in play, we’ll be fine.”

The Patriots plated two more runs in the third and then four in the fourth to pull ahead 17-4. Aside from the walks, the Red Devils also committed four errors in the field and had several other mental mistakes — none of them out of the ordinary for a team’s first game, however.

“We’ve got some pretty good athletes, but you never would’ve known it from today’s game,” Magruder said. “The mistakes we made in the field are fixable. When you walk that many girls, you get sort of lackadaisical in the field and we just made mistakes that you can’t make on a regular basis.”

The Red Devils built up a 4-1 lead when they scored three runs on two fielder’s choices and an error in the top of the third inning.

“We didn’t come out ready to play tonight,” Durkin said. “In the first couple of innings, we made a couple of throwing errors, a ball went through someone’s legs — that doesn’t usually happen on defense for us. Once the bats started hitting, their play (on defense) picked up a little bit.”

Nolte led Park on offense with a pair of doubles and five runs batted in. Thomas finished with a single, double and three RBI and Derrow had a double, two RBI and two stolen bases. Makenna Kelly also drove in two runs.

Dalaney Theiss for the win in the circle, allowing four runs in three innings while striking out four. Shelby Crowe closed the game with two scoreless innings, also recording four punchouts.

For St. Clairsville, Dubinsky had a single and two RBI while Alexis Hale and Miranda Cameron both had one single and one RBI.

Benedict allowed 13 runs in 2 1/3 innings, issuing six free passes. Dubinsky gave up four runs in 1 2/3 innings while walking seven.

Park continues a busy week this afternoon with a game at Morgantown. The Patriots will also travel to Oak Glen and play doubleheaders against Dover and Warren this week.

St. Clairsville will make their home debut tonight with a twin bill against Union Local.