File photo – The Arcata Tigers got off to a fast start in Wednesday’s Big 5 game.

The Arcata Tigers wasted no time putting a disappointing conference-opening doubleheader behind them.

After dropping two Big 5 games at home to Del Norte on Saturday, the Tigers bats came out swinging on Wednesday in a 13-3 win over Eureka at Arcata High.

The win lifts the Tigers to 1-2 in conference and 4-6 on the season.

They started fast, scoring all 13 of their runs in the opening inning, and they never looked back, securing the victory with some strong pitching and some sure-handed defense.

“In the first inning we put it on pretty good and held them off the rest of the game,” Arcata head coach Jason Miller said.

Riley Houston pitched all five innings for the win in the circle and “had a great game,” according to her coach.

Senior team captain Lily Cunningham and sophomore Nallia Meyer led the way for the Tigers at the plate.

Both players finished 3-for-4 with Meyer driving in three runs and Cunningham two.

Houston got plenty of defensive support with her teammates making the necessary plays behind her.

In particular junior shortstop Josie Cunningham, who set the tone on the defensive side of the ball with some big plays.

The junior shortstop also made some noise at the plate and finished 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.

“Coming off the losses to Del Norte, which is a good team, this was something we needed to bounce back,” Miller said. “The energy was positive, which is something we’ve been working on.”

The start to the game was a disappointing one for a young Eureka team.

“We had too many errors in that first inning that you can’t have,” Eureka head coach Cheyenne King said. “We didn’t give up though.”

The Eureka players, to their credit, matched the home team stride for stride the remainder of the game but were unable to overcome their shaky start.

“All of my girls were hitting the ball,” King added. “We just left a lot of runners on base.”

Guiliana Burger led the Loggers at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI, while teammates Bailey Brown, Macy Secor and Jaycee Childress each went 1-for-3.

Brown also pitched well for the Loggers out of the bullpen, throwing 3.1 innings.

The standout junior team captain gave up no earned runs on just two hits and three walks and struck out two.

With the loss, the Loggers dropped to 0-3 in the Big 5 and 0-7-1 overall.

Next up, the Tigers will host Fortuna next Wednesday, while the Loggers will play a doubleheader at Del Norte a week from Saturday.