The Hays Larks dropped their first completed series of the summer when the Liberal Bee Jays jumped out to an early lead and held on Sunday night at Larks Park.

After the Larks won Fridays series opener 1-0, the Bee Jays took the series with a 6-5 win Saturday before a 12-5 win Sunday.

The Larks Sunday starter, Peyton Battenfield, went 1.1 innings, allowing nine runs on as many hits. He walked two and struck out one.

The visitors took a 9-0 lead to the bottom of the third when Nick Jones got the Larks on the board with an RBI single.

Ryan Kotulek relieved Battenfield and allowed Liberal to plate two more runs on in 2.1 innings of work.

Liberal plated its 12th run in the sixth before the Hays bats got going in the late innings.

Jace Selsor, Mikey Gangwish and Trevor Boone plated runs in the seventh, making it 12-5.

Battenfield was charged with the loss in his first outing as a Lark, while Jones led the home team with a pair of hits. Liberal starter Jake Harrison tossed six innings of one-run ball. The Bee Jays out-hit the Larks 15-9 in the finale with Hays committing all three of the games errors.

Saturday was a closer affair, but the result was much the same.

Liberal again jumped out to an early lead, scoring four runs off Larks starter Walt Pennington in the first.

The Bee Jays took a 4-0 lead to the fifth before Max Remy got Hays on the board with an RBI single that scored Keone Givens.

Dylan Schneider came on for Pennington to start the sixth and saw Liberal add to its lead on a sacrifice fly. Another sacrifice in the seventh made it 6-1 Liberal.

Hays again fought back, but it was too little, too late.

An Alex Weiss single made it 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth before Trevor Boone and Clayton Rasbeary made it a one-run game with RBI singles.

The Larks were unable to put the tying run on base in the ninth.

Pennington took the loss, giving up four runs in five innings, while Johnathan Soberanes led the Larks with three hits from the leadoff spot.

Liberal tallied 13 hits on Saturday to Hays 12.

The Larks continue a lengthy home stand on Tuesday when Oklahoma City comes to town to start a three-game series.

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