For the first four innings of No. 8 Reservoir’s first-place matchup against Glenelg on Wednesday, Gators coach Julie Frisvold saw her team playing uncharacteristically on its heels.

Reservoir, averaging more than 11 runs a game, had just one hit through four innings and found itself in a three-run hole against the host Gladiators.

“We pulled them in and told them that we have to be more aggressive. We are a hitting team and we were being a little too patient I thought,” Frisvold said. “We wanted to change the mentality and start putting the pressure on them. I knew if we could do that, it was only a matter of time before the hits would start to come.”

Sure enough, come the third time through the lineup, the Gators began attacking pitches early in the count and smacking base hits through holes and over outfielders’ heads. Over the final three innings, Reservoir collected eight hits and scored five times to earn a come-from-behind 5-4 victory.

The Gators (9-3, 9-1 Howard County) remain in a tie for first place in the league standings, while Glenelg (8-4, 7-2) falls a game back in the loss column.

Reservoir senior Emma Bailey, who came on in the bottom of the seventh to earn the save, said that once the momentum shifted in the top of the fifth, the entire feel of the game changed.

“When we started hitting, you could feel the energy pick up and we kept building off of each other,” said Bailey, who spent the first six innings locking things down defensively at third base. “And we were using [old] cheers, because that really pumps us up.”

Glenelg had won five straight games. The Gladiators had earned a comeback victory Tuesday, 11-10 over Howard, and seemed to carry that momentum over into the early stages of its contest against the Gators.

Glenelg scored twice in the bottom of the first inning, capitalizing on a trio of hits from Katie Dustin (3-for-4, two runs scored), Shannay Vassel and Molly Dustin (3-for-4, double, triple, run scored and two RBIs) in succession. The Gladiators then tacked on another run in the third inning when Molly Dustin launched a triple to score her older sister Katie.

As Glenelg was establishing the lead, Amy Stetser was locking things down by allowing just a lone single by Reservoir’s Macayla Allen through the opening four innings.

Six errors, including three in the final three innings, extended rallies for the Gladiators and opened the door for a comeback.

The Gators offense also played a major part in forcing the issue. In the fifth inning, Emily Lloyd reached on an error and starting pitcher Kaylee Gunkel (six strikeouts in six innings pitched) drew a walk to get things going.

Then Desi Hatzakos drove in Reservoir’s first run with a single to center. After that, Bre Smith and Hunter Little (double) followed with back-to-back RBI hits of their own to tie the game up at 3-3.

Glenelg ended up taking the lead again in the bottom of the sixth, getting a hit from Stetser to score Molly Dustin — who had led off with a double.

But Reservoir was undeterred, coming right back in the top of the seventh and scoring twice to take the lead for good. This time it was consecutive singles from Hatzakos and Smith to start the inning that began a rally during which both players eventually came around to score.

A hard ground ball by Abby Wang past second base scored the deciding run.

bkennedy@baltsun.com

twitter.com/BKBSunSports