PIEDMONT — They are, after all, Hurricanes. So practicing in the steady drizzle Thursday afternoon was no problem for the Wren softball team.

The Lady Canes have a state championship to win Friday, so they didn’t see the rain as much of a hindrance.

“I love practicing in the rain, I really do,” said junior shortstop Ericka Harris, who promptly did a head-first slide in right field while her teammates warmed up.

Wren has a chance at the school’s first softball state title because it beat Stratford 3-2 Wednesday in Goose Creek to force a decisive Game 3 in the best-of-three AAAA state championship series. The teams will meet at 6 p.m. Friday at Irmo High in Columbia. Stratford won Game 1 at Wren on Monday, 2-0.

Timely singles from senior first baseman Mallory Kuykendall and junior catcher Karlie Whitt followed extra-base hits from Harris and sophomore center fielder Chelsea Hawkins as Wren adjusted to Stratford pitcher Caroline Pastre in Game 2.

Those hits erased the jitters that Wren had on Monday when it struggled to string together back-to-back hits.

“You could almost see everything brighten up or lighten up,” Wren coach Lynn Hicks said. “It was like, ‘OK, they hit her, we can too.’”

Pastre lived on the outside corner in Game 1, but pitched inside in Game 2 partly because Wren’s batters crowded the plate to reach the outer half.

“I feel really confident about (today) because now we know we can beat them,” Harris said. “I feel like they’re really going to see us play (today).”

Wednesday’s loss hit the Stratford players harder than Monday’s loss hurt the Lady Canes, Wren coach Lynn Hicks said. That may be because Stratford was undefeated in the playoffs before then, while Wren lost at Gaffney in district play, but bounced back to win two straight at Gaffney to take the district title.

“Honestly, I think they’re really scared,” Harris said. “You could tell they were scared (Wednesday) night when we started scoring.”

The win also gave Wren confidence that Game 3 could be its best game of the series.

“I still don’t think they’ve seen us play ball like we really can,” Hawkins said.

While Wren will be the home team today, the Lady Canes are looking for their sixth straight playoff win away from home.

“I feel like we’re a little more relaxed on the road,” Hicks said.