FUQUAY-VARINA - After dropping its first five games of the season, Middle Creek's baseball players knew they had to address their problems. Players called for team meetings.

The question, "What was our purpose this year?" was tossed around.

All that talking off the field has possibly turned a season's course. The Mustangs won their third straight game Thursday night with a 12-5 road victory over rival Fuquay-Varina.

A six-run second inning and a five-run seventh provided more than enough offense for Middle Creek to keep its new streak alive. Mustangs coach Jeremy Thompson said the team's adherence to a better work ethic has been key.

"Maybe we thought it'd be easier than it actually started off being," he said. "I really feel like we've come together as a team, had some good things happen to us and we just took advantage of it and kept on going."

The Mustangs (3-5, 3-3) brought up 10 batters to the plate in the second inning, which started with clean-up hitter Seth Watkins, the designated hitter.

A two-RBI double by Tyler King was followed two batters later with a two-RBI double by leadoff hitter Ben Brown. Two batters after Brown, starting pitcher Jimmy Boyd drove in two more with a single before advancing to second on a fielding error in the outfield.

The Mustangs chased Fuquay's starting pitcher Travis Long in just 1 2/3 innings with all six runs earned.

"[Middle Creek's] three, four and five [hitters] are probably the best back-to-back-to-back hitters in the league," Fuquay coach Milton Senter said. "We caught them at the wrong time. They're getting back together and this is three in a row for them."

Fuquay (6-4, 4-3) tacked on two in the bottom of the third with an RBI infield single by Addison Braswell and ensuing RBI double by clean-up hitter Devin Kelly.

The Bengals scored again in the fifth as a passed ball allowed second baseman Chris Williams to score from third.

Middle Creek's lead was down to just two runs after a sixth inning that saw a two-RBI double by Williams for Fuquay and a passed ball that scored Middle Creek's Collin Pelosi.

The Mustangs felt fortunate to still have that lead, as the Bengals ended the inning with two on base and the leading run at the plate.

In the top of the seventh, Thompson's team pulled away for good.

Fuquay pitcher Austin Yarborough was chased after four hits and five earned runs crossed the plate on a RBI triple by first baseman Britt Cherry, RBI single by Will Fuller and a three-run homer that Brown blasted into the pines in center field.

Brown, the catcher, was the final batter Yarborough saw before Evan McNeil came in as the Bengals' fifth pitcher of the night.

"The bats are starting to come around now," Brown said. "He threw me a fastball and I was just sitting on it dead-red."

While Middle Creek continues to trend up, it was the third Fuquay loss in four games. Senter said his team is still looking for that complete effort.

"It's never been one particular thing that we've done great or that we've done poorly," Senter said. "I guess what I'm looking for, but haven't got yet, is we have a great pitching performance, we strike the ball well and we make all the plays in the field."