The Raiders, however, weren’t interested in waiting.

Tying the game in the third on an RBI double to left by Chloe Kachelmeier, Nicollet added four more runs after that in the inning and ended up rolling to a 10-2 win over the Knights.

The Raiders had six players finish with multiple hits, led by Kachelmeier, who was 2 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. Madison Kettner finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs, while Aubrey Hulke was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, Taylor Wilking was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Jazmyn Goettlicher was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Zoie Rengstorf was 2 for 4.

The Knights were led at the plate by Taylor Mathiowetz, who was 2 for 3 with a walk. Jocelyn Sellner was 1 for 3 with an RBI, while Sidney Tauer added a double and a walk.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Nicollet’s Madison Kettner watches one of her two hits during a nonconference softball game against Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s on Friday at Nicollet High School.

It was a game both teams needed to win to get back on track after recently being swept in doubleheaders.

The Raiders were on a three-game skid, falling to Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove 5-3 last Friday and being swept by Martin County West on Wednesday 13-0 and 11-0, both doubleheader games ending in five innings.

“They’re a good hitting team, we knew they were going to hit,” Raiders head coach Marc Bode said. “Offensively and defensively, I just said that we have to get back to our aggressive selves. We got passive and I think we saw Martin County West on the schedule and we played a little tentative and that kind of hurt us and we never really got on board with what we were supposed to do. I preached this afternoon that we need to be aggressive. That’s how we are with the bats, aggressive with the baserunning and aggressive with our defense, attack the ball and make strong plays.”

The Knights collected eight hits in the game, but three of them came in the first inning.

The Knights fell to New Ulm Cathedral 9-1 and 9-5 on Thursday in New Ulm, dropping the second game after the Greyhounds scored five runs in the seventh for a comeback win.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Nicollet’s Zoie Rengstorf slides in to beat the tag of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s catcher Sidney Tauer as Nicollet head coach Marc Bode signals safe during a nonconference softball game against Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s on Friday at Nicollet High School.

Knights head coach Kayla Mathiowetz said despite the tough losses to Cathedral on Thursday, Friday was a rare case of not having the same fight she’s seen from her team so far on the year.

“Tonight’s probably one of the first nights that we haven’t given that resilience that we have shown in the batter’s box and haven’t fought back as hard as we have in previous games,” she said. “Right now what’s keeping us and holding us back is we need to find a solid defense and make consistent plays behind our pitchers, those routine plays. They need to be hungry. Don’t let somebody get the ball, you can go and make a play.”

Nicollet freshman Brielle Osborne got the complete-game win in the circle, tying her previous season low for runs allowed in the process. She allowed two runs in a 7-2 win over Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther on April 16, one earned. On Friday, she was responsible for one earned run again and gave up seven hits and four walks while striking out one.

“She’s young,” Bode said of Osborne. “For her it’s just staying aggressive, try to hit your spots, you’re not going to blow it past everyone only in ninth grade. So staying aggressive, staying outside of her own head is key. She was pretty roughed up after Martin County West, but I don’t think she really understood the quality team that Martin County West is. We had that conversation yesterday and reiterated it today to just get back after it.”

Natalie Zarn took the loss in the circle for the Knights, allowing 12 hits and no walks while striking out five.

The Knights got on the board right away in the first after Taylor Mathiowetz blooped a single into left with one out. After Osborne forced a flyout to left field, Nell Weiss singled to right to put Taylor Mathiowetz on third before an RBI single to right by Joslyn Sellner made it 1-0. The Raiders got the run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Kettner that scored Kachelmeier, who led off with a double.

Rivers Helget reached on an error to start the second inning before a walk to Jaylynn Sellner and a single by Audra Hoffmann loaded the bases. Eva Schweiss then had a sac fly to score Helget and give the Knights a 2-1 lead.

The floodgates opened in the bottom of the third for the Raiders in the form of five runs. Kamryn Truebenbach led off by bunting and reaching on an error. She was doubled in by Kachelmeier to tie the game. With one out, Goettlicher singled in Kachelmeier for the 3-2 lead and a single by Kettner had two on for Nicollet. After a popout to center, Hulke drove in a pair of runs for a 5-2 lead before an error scored the last run of the inning and made it 6-2.

The Raiders got RBI singled in the fourth by Goettlicher, Kettner and Wilking for a 9-2 lead and they added one more run in the sixth on an RBI single to right by Wilking.

Despite the loss dropping the Knights to 3-6 on the year, coach Mathiowetz said she’s liked what she’s seen from her pitchers so far but wants to see a more consistent defense after committing four errors on Friday.

“They’ve been doing their job,” coach Mathiowetz said. “They’ve been making players put the ball in play and right now we’ve just gotta find a solid defense that’s going to be able to make those plays behind them consistently so that they can trust and not have to feel they have that whole weight on their shoulders.”

The Knights are in Winthrop to take on Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in a Tomahawk Division game on Monday.

The Raiders, now 7-4, travel to North Mankato for a Caswell Park invite Saturday.