CORTLAND — Girard proved to be no match for Northeast 8 Conference (NE8) rival Lakeview on Monday, as the Bulldogs, powered by two Mackenzie “Mack” Stowe home runs and another from Kalyssa Werner, shut out the Indians 14-0 in five innings.

The loss is the third in a row for Girard (3-6, 1-4 NE8) and the fifth straight win for Lakeview (10-2, 4-0 NE8).

“We knew coming in today that they were going to be a very good team, a well-coached team and they could hit the ball,” Indians head coach Jim Keagy said. “The pitcher did a great job. At the plate for them, they found a lot of little openings. Obviously, they had three home runs. It’s a really good team.”

The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard quickly Monday. After stranding a pair of Girard runners in the top of the first, Werner drew a leadoff walk, and Rylee Barnot singled up the middle, bringing up Stowe, the team’s star catcher and a Kent State commit.

On the first pitch of the at-bat, Stowe could not resist swinging – and for good reason. Moments later, her teammates swarmed her to celebrate a three-run home run to center field. Not too long afterward, in the bottom of the second, history repeated itself, as Stowe did not bother taking the first pitch and instead sent another ball over the outfield fence for another three-run home run.

“Honestly, I was going into the batter’s box saying to be patient and not swing at the first pitch. That never really goes to plan,” Stowe said. “I’m really aggressive in the batter’s box, and I think a lot of people know that. So I was expecting a ball or two before, but I’m still thinking ‘yes, yes, no.’ And that just happened to be ‘yes, yes, yes.'”

Stowe’s homers accounted for six of the nine runs Lakeview scored in the first two innings; freshman Ava Neilan drove in two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies, and Paige Schwartz brought in Isabella Isenberg with a single.

The Bulldogs officially put Girard in danger of being run-ruled in the third, when Barnot hit an RBI single to score Annaliese DeJulio. An Isenberg groundout two at-bats later then led to Barnot scoring to increase the lead to 11.

Lakeview added to its advantage in the fourth inning, during which DeJulio drove in a run before Werner hit the third and final home run of the day to go ahead 14-0.

After hitting a single and drawing a walk in the top of the first, the Indians never managed to repeat that success in any subsequent inning against Bulldogs starting pitcher Jianna Shaker. Girard went down in order in the second and had one single in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Shaker, in her first complete game, struck out five batters and allowed just four hits and one walk in the win. Meanwhile, Girard starter Brooklyn Broll finished the game with a strikeout and 13 hits, 11 earned runs and two walks allowed.

Lakeview, which has won its last five, including two since returning from Myrtle Beach, will travel to Poland on Wednesday.

The Indians, who have been outscored 32-7 in their three straight losses, are scheduled to play 10 games in 12 days, including Monday. Another NE8 road game is up next, with Girard visiting South Range today.

“We have a very tough conference,” Keagy said. “Tomorrow, we play South Range on the road, so we gotta learn from this and move on. It’s difficult, it’s tough, but just got to do our best.”