AHOSKIE – There’s now a three-way tie atop the Tarheel Independent Conference baseball standings.

Ridgecroft School knocked off TIC front-runner Hobgood Academy Monday to even the Rams, the Raiders and Lawrence Academy with one loss each inside the league.

The Rams took a 5-3 victory over Hobgood to secure their fourth win of the year and third inside the TIC. Their only loss is to Lawrence whose only league loss is to Hobgood.

Ridgecroft started the game with a run in the bottom of the second inning to take an early advantage.

Dustin Baker singled and stole second before going to third on a Bryan Britton groundout. He then scored on an Andy Daughtridge squeeze bunt to make it 1-0.

The Rams continued building on that lead in the third inning when they added three runs.

Dillon Lowe doubled before Matthew Jones and Jeremy Courtright drew back-to-back walks to load the bases.

Lowe and Jones scored on a Gavin Mizelle double. Mizelle came around on a Neil Howard RBI-groundout to make it 4-0 in favor of Ridgecroft.

The Rams scored their final run in the fifth frame.

Courtright walked and went to second on a Mizelle single. They advanced on a wild pitch before Courtright scored on a Howard groundout to give the Rams a 5-0 advantage.

Hobgood plated two runs in the top of the sixth on a Billy Thompson RBI-double and a Jeremy Jones RBI-single to trim their deficit to 5-2.

The Raiders added one in the top of the seventh on a Thompson RBI-single, but that was as close as they got.

Mizelle went seven innings for the Rams, picking up a win after allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out nine.

Mizelle and Baker led Ridgecroft offensively with two hits each.

The Rams (4-1) will host Terra Ceia Christian School today (Thursday) during a double header.