Mandan, N.D. ? Tied 1-1 after the second inning, the Lawrence Raiders had to be feeling good about their chances at beating Eden Prairie, Minn., at the American Legion Central Plains Regional.

Especially since their ace, Jake Hoover, was on the mound.

But Eden Prairie solved Hoover, scoring five times in the third and three more in the fourth on its way to a 12-8 victory Thursday morning.

“Jake had a couple pitches that were good that they hit and also left some over the plate,” Raiders coach Kevin Tucker said. “He settled down in the third or fourth. I just wish we could have gotten off to a better start.”

The Raiders tried to rally with three runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and two more in the eighth, but the damage was done.

“It hurts to sit out 10 or 11 days and try to jump out and play well,” Tucker said. “I thought we found our rhythm in the third or fourth inning, but by then we were down quite a bit.”

A major blow for Lawrence came in the eighth. With the bases loaded, none out, and a run already in, Brian Heere hit a liner to Eden Prairie first baseman Justin Milo that turned into an unassisted double play.

Hoover certainly tried to help himself, going 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Tyler Knight added a homer and scored twice, Brian Heere and Cory Cooper each had two hits, and Lorenzo Ricketts scored twice.

The Raiders will play at 9:30 a.m. today against Fargo, N.D., in the losers bracket. Max Ellenbecker will get the start on the mound.

“These guys never say die,” Tucker said. “They’ve been in a lot of big games, and they’re not going to give in one bit. If we get good pitching and score runs, we feel we can go day by day and win this thing.”