It took the Reed offense four frames to get going, but the Raiders finally got just enough scoring to pull out a 3-0 non-league home win over Carson Tuesday afternoon in prep softball action.

The northern Nevada foes were deadlocked at 0-0 after four and a half innings. Reed finally broke the scoreless tie with a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Cassy Walsh led off the inning for Reed with a single and she promptly stole second. Mariah Levesque got down a bunt single that left Raiders on the corners. A Mary Dettling groundout got Reed on the scoreboard by plating Walsh. Tyler Sumpter followed with a single to again put Raiders on the corners. A passed ball allowed Levesque to race home. Sumpter's pinch runner, Amanda Leighton, went all the way around to third on the passed ball. After a lineout, Lindsay Yearman roped a two-out, run-scoring single to bring Leighton plateward and account for the 3-0 margin.

Jackie Sertic put the Carson lumber into a slumber. The Reed hurler worked all seven innings, limiting the visiting Senators to just three hits. She struck out 10 and did not issue a walk, although she did hit one batter.

"To be honest, Jackie struggled finding her location early on, but she settled in, and for the most part we did play some good defense behind her," third-year Reed coach Jon Wunder said.

Reed, which opened its season last weekend by playing five games in three days at a preseason tournament in Sacramento, returned home this week and is getting in a pair of non-league contests before conference clashes begin next week.

"It's always nice to get home too and get game some games under your belt," Wunder said. "Even though we don't have a starting nine yet, and we were a little shorthanded, we're still trying to find the right combination. This was just another opportunity. We worked hard on our defense in practice and we're a little more sound. That's a good sign. Now we have to work on having good approaches at the plate with runners in scoring position ... When we can get a few days in a row of practice, that will bring it all together."

Reed (3-1-2) gets in another non-league tilt Thursday when it hosts North Valleys at 3:45 p.m.