Warren Central let an early lead slip away Friday and found itself with its back to the wall in its first-round playoff series with Tupelo.

Kendall Brooks, Riley Rhea and Lauren Wright each had RBI singles during Tupelo’s six-run outburst in the third inning, and the Golden Wave fended off a late comeback bid to beat Warren Central 8-7 in Game 1 of their best-of-three Class 6A softball series.

Game 2 is Saturday at 3 p.m. at Warren Central’s Lucy Young Field. If the Lady Vikes win, Game 3 will be played immediately afterward.

“The girls are pumped and ready to play,” Warren Central coach Dana McGivney said. “(Tupelo) didn’t really hit the ball hard. They just kind of poked their hits in. If we hit the ball hard, I believe we can win.”

The Lady Vikes (12-10) scored three times in the third inning — two runs scored on a single by Kasy Cortezie — to take a 3-1 lead. It was short-lived, however. Tupelo struck back for its six-spot in the bottom of the inning and the Lady Vikes were playing catch-up the rest of the way.

They did get three runs back in the fifth, only to give up what turned out to be the winning run in the bottom of the inning. Rhea walked and scored on a single by Katie Rieves to give Tupelo an 8-6 lead.

In the top of the seventh, WC’s Cocoa Fultz led off with a walk and scored on a two-out error to cut the deficit to a single run. WC then had runners at first and second, but April Lynn flied out to left field to end the game.

“We came back and had runners in position to tie the game,” McGivney said. “We just didn’t quite get it done.”

Fultz finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Lady Vikes, while Brooke Patterson was 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and a run scored.

Rhea was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored for Tupelo.

WARREN CENTRAL VS. TUPELO

Class 6A softball playoffs

Game 1: Tupelo 8, Warren Central 7

Game 2: Tupelo at Warren Central, Saturday, 3 p.m.

Game 3: Tupelo at Warren Central, Saturday, 5:30 p.m.