George Hebert struck out 11 and the Tradewater Pirates defeated the Owensboro Oilers 8-3 Thursday to hang on to first place in the KIT League standings.

The Pirates trailed 1-0 early when fortunes changed in the second inning. The Buccos scored three times to take charge.

The lead grew to 7-1 before the Oilers came to life late, but Payne Spence and Eric Faint put out the fire before a huge crowd at Riverside Park.

Fireworks capped off the evening as the Pirates moved to 21-9 on the season.

The win put Tradewater a game and a half up on Fulton (20-11) in the KIT while Owensboro (19-12) is now two and a half games back.