The Lakeland Conference softball season opened up with a pair of championship contenders squaring off Tuesday afternoon.

Defending conference champion Buchanan took on host Edwardsburg, one of the top contenders for the 2011 title.

The Eddies won the opening round of the battle of conference heavyweights, holding off the Bucks 6-5 in the opening game of a doubleheader.

Edwardsburg completed the sweep with a come-from-behind 11-8 win in the nightcap.

The Bucks got on the board first, scoring a pair of first inning runs thank to a bases loaded walk and a wild pitch.

The Eddies responded with four runs in the bottom of the first.

A walk and an error set the table for Brittany Hurst, who singled home Edwardsburg’s first run of the contest. A two-run double by Kaley Frank gave the Eddies a 3-2 lead. Edwardsburg capped the scoring on an error by Buchanan pitcher Kaitlyn Enders, which allowed Frank to score from second with two outs.

The game seemed to settle down after the opening flurry of scoring.

The Bucks cut the lead to 4-3 with a run in the top half of the third inning as an error allowed Buchanan to push a run across the plate.

Edwardsburg responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning as Emily Shoupe grounded out to plate a runner after the Eddies had loaded the bases with just one out.

Missed opportunities in the fourth and fifth innings, leaving multiple runners in scoring position in each frame, seemed to loom large as the Bucks continued to rally. However, a diving catch by Victoria Hurst in the top of the fifth kept the Eddies in front by a couple of runs.

But a single run in the bottom of the sixth proved to be the difference in the opening contest. The run was unearned as Brittany Hurst’s fly ball to right field eluded the Bucks and allowed what would be the game-winning run to score.

Buchanan made it interesting in the top of the seventh, scoring two runs and leaving the bases loaded.

Erin Glavin led off with a single and when Brianna Turnock reached base on an infield single, the Bucks were in business. Enders drew a walk to load the bases for Buchanan, which cut the lead to 6-4 when Devin Adams singled home Glavin. Following a pop up to the Eddies’ shortstop, Rachel Bonek then drew a bases loaded walk to make it a one-run contest with only one out.

Andrea LaPlace then settled down and struck out the next two Bucks to preserve the victory for the Eddies. She finished with 13 strikeouts and seven walks, while allowing just three hits.

Edwardsburg (2-2, 2-0 Lakeland) used a five-run sixth inning to rally for the win in the second game.

With Buchanan leading 6-3, the Eddies knotted the score at 6-6 with a trio of runs in the fifth inning to set up the late-inning comeback.

Four of the five runs in the sixth inning were unearned as Edwardsburg sent 10 players to the plate. The first two runs of the frame scored on a throwing error by the Bucks on a bunt by Nicole Brooks. Frank delivered an RBI double and LaPlace had a run-scoring single during the rally.

Buchanan (3-3, 0-2 Lakeland) didn’t give up. The Bucks scored a couple of runs in the top of the seventh once again to make things interesting for the Eddies. Just as it did in the opening game, Buchanan left the bases loaded in its final at-bat.

But LaPlace would again settle down and record the final outs of the contest.

“I was impressed with our competitiveness for such a young team,” Edwardsburg coach Randy Brooks said. “We weren’t flawless. But I was really proud of our girls for going out and competing.”

LaPlace struck out eight more in the nightcap, giving her 21 on the day. She also walked another seven.

“You haven’t seen her best yet,” Brooks said of LaPlace.

LaPlace had three of the Eddies’ nine hits in the second game. Frank and Hurst both finished with a pair of hits.

First game

Buchanan 201 000 2 – 5 3 3

Edwardsburg 401 001 x – 6 9 3

WP – Andrea LaPlace (1-2) and Tanner Kiessel

LP – Kaitlyn Enders (3-1) and Jayla Karrigan

2B: Kaley Frank (E)

Second game

Buchanan 411 000 2 – 8 10 2

Edwardsburg 030 035 x – 11 11 3

WP – Andrea LaPlace (2-1) and Tanner Kiessel

LP – Audrey Oake (0-1) and Jayla Karrigan

2B: Kaley Frank (E)

3B: Erin Glavin (B)

Varsity records

Buchanan 3-3, 0-2 Lakeland; Edwardsburg 2-2, 2-0 Lakeland