LUMBERTON — Little things add up in the game of baseball, especially when facing a strong team.

The top of the fourth Monday began with the Lumberton baseball team getting no outs from two Cape Fear bunt attempts — and ended with a 10-run frame for the Colts.

That big inning was more than enough for Cape Fear behind a strong outing from starting pitcher Ethan Plesser as the Colts beat Lumberton 11-1 in five innings in a key United-8 Conference matchup.

“The fourth inning, we just had some — we didn’t field bunts, we gave them free bases and then they got some big hits,” Lumberton coach Jeff McLamb said. “After that the wheels fell off. They capitalized on our mistakes.”

In a 1-1 tie, Landon Underwood led off the fourth for Cape Fear (17-4, 9-2 United-8) with a single. Jackson Rainey tried to bunt him over, but reached on an error; Caden Jeffrey then tried to advance both baserunners with a bunt, but reached safely when Pirates pitcher J.T. Hepler slipped trying to field the ball.

Brody Jackson singled to bring home Underwood for a 2-1 Colts lead and Brycen Talley’s sacrifice fly brought home Rainey. Jeffrey scored on a passed ball before Jackson and Mason Hughes came home on a two-RBI triple by Evan Bunce, making it a 6-1 game.

The Colts kept piling on, with a Lucca Pascarella double driving in Bunce; Pascarella scored on a wild pitch, two more came home on a Jackson RBI single and Jeffrey scored again on another wild pitch, completing the 10-run inning.

Cape Fear had six hits in the inning with one Pirates error, three walks and a hit batsman. Lumberton (11-7, 8-4 United-8) used three pitchers to get the three outs in the frame.

Plesser, meanwhile, allowed just three hits and an unearned run, with no walks and 12 strikeouts, in five innings for the Colts.

“Plesser, he pounded the strike zone, he’s a good pitcher. It was tough coming back on him,” McLamb said. “He threw all three pitches. I think the first time through (the lineup), he started with some fastballs, but after that not many of our batters saw fastballs; he threw the changeup and curveball for a strike. He kept us off balance all night and he threw strikes with all three pitches, which was tough.”

Lumberton’s Chatler Maynor singled, and reached third after two errors on the play, before scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning. But Plesser didn’t allow another baserunner until the fifth inning, and at one point struck out eight consecutive hitters. Issac Simmons doubled and Brennan Griffen reached on an infield single in the fifth, but the Pirates couldn’t convert to bring home any more runs.

Cape Fear took a 1-0 lead in the first when Mason Hughes reached on an outfield error and scored on a Bunce sacrifice fly; the Pirates tied the game in the bottom half on Chatler Maynor’s run.

Jeffrey and Jackson had two hits each to lead Cape Fear. Jackson and Bunce each had three RBIs, and Hughes, Rainey and Jeffrey each scored twice.

Lumberton beat the Colts 4-1 in the first meeting of the season on March 5.

The Pirates entered Tuesday’s game a half game behind Cape Fear in the United-8 standings; after Monday’s loss, the Pirates fall into a three-way tie for third at 8-4. The Pirates faced Seventy-First at home Tuesday; the result was unavailable at press time. Lumberton hosts Purnell Swett on Friday, with the Rams entering play Tuesday at 9-3 in the league and second place in the conference potentially on the line in Friday’s game.

“We’re still sitting pretty; we still hold our own destiny where we’re going to finish in the conference,” McLamb said. “We’ve got Seventy-First (Tuesday), and then we look forward to playing Swett on Friday. It’ll be a big game for both teams.”

Cape Fear has home games left Tuesday against South View and Friday against Gray’s Creek, both of whom are in the big tie for third, before a Saturday makeup game against Seventy-First; the Colts currently lead Purnell Swett by half a game for first place.