The Lawrence Raiders’ Travis Sanders, right, pounds fists with pitcher Ben Wyatt after scoring during the third inning. The Raiders defeated the Ozark (Mo.) Merchants, 4-3, Sunday at Ice Field.

Raiders' runner Bryan Kindle rounds first base during a hit in the second inning against the Ozark Merchants Sunday, June 28, 2009 at Ice Field.

Well, this was a little more like it.

A day after being handcuffed by Kansas City Bombers ace Jeff Cline, who struck out 16 in a complete-game shutout, the Raiders rebounded to hold off the Ozark (Mo.) Merchants, 4-3, on Sunday during the final day of the Al Ice Woodbat Classic at Ice Field.

“Obviously, the pitching was a little different,” said Raiders coach Wilson Kilmer, whose team finishes the tournament 2-2. “But it’s always good to see your team come back like that.”

The Raiders used a three-run third inning to overcome a one-run deficit, taking out the previous night’s frustration upon Ozark starter Mike Headlee, who gave up five hits and suffered from three Merchants fielding miscues.

Austin Holladay and Cody Jones both reached base on errors to lead off the inning and Matthew Abel singled to left field to score Holladay. Two batters later, Nick Hassig grounded out to score Abel and Bryan Kindle followed by reaching base on an error, allowing Travis Sanders to score.

On the mound, meanwhile, a pair of pitchers combined to help the Raiders improve to 7-11 overall this summer. Starter Ben Wyatt gave up three runs on four hits in four innings of work, and reliever Tanner Kilmer pitched three scoreless innings to close the game out.

“Ben settled in and threw more strikes today,” said Kilmer. “One of the things we’ve been talking with him about is trusting his stuff. Because he’s got good stuff, he’s just walking too many people. So I told him, ‘I just want to see you throw strikes.'”

The Raiders, who allowed the Merchants to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, added one more run in the top of the sixth, when the team’s first three batters of the inning reached base and an error by Headlee allowed Sanders to score from third.

“I was happy for the most part,” said Kilmer. “Coming off the disappointment of last night, it was a tough turnaround. So I’m glad they came out with good focus and got the ‘W.'”