The Rock Falls softball team got off on the wrong foot Thursday against Dixon.

However, Zoey Silva and the Rockets bounced back in a big way.

After giving up two unearned runs to start the game, Rock Falls answered with four runs en route to a 12-2 Big Northern Conference win over the visiting Duchesses in five innings to snap a four-game skid.

“It was huge,” Silva said of the team’s response. “We’ve made some pretty big mistakes this season. ... To be able to bounce back, it was really good for us, especially since we haven’t been able to our past couple games.”

Silva pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts and no walks, allowing just four hits. She also had an RBI triple, and her sacrifice fly scored Rylee McFadden to end the game early.

She said her curveball and riseball were working well in the circle.

“I was working in my changeup a little bit,” she said, “and our bats were really, really good this game.”

Dixon’s Abby Hicks and Brooklyn Arjes had two-out RBI doubles in the first inning after a throwing error.

RF answered in the bottom half, taking advantage of hit batters, some wild pitches, errors and walks to take a 4-2 lead.

Dixon also had some crucial drops on fly balls in the setback. The Rockets finished with nine hits and four walks against Kinley Rogers.

Julia Renner hit a two-run home run and finished with three RBIs. Silva, Renner, Hadley Osborne, Chloe Behrens and McFadden each scored two runs for the Rockets (5-9, 3-2 BNC). Eikenberry and Behrens each had two hits.

Dixon fell to 5-5 overall and 0-3 in conference.

“We’ve got to come together,” Dixon coach Candi Rogers said. “We’ve got to not have those mental mistakes. We’ve got to pick it up after we make a mistake, that’s the biggest thing.”

Rogers said the defensive miscues were things they’ve been working on, which was frustrating to see. It also led to the early lead disappearing.

“That was very disappointing,” she said. “First inning, to have those mistakes, and that’s what we’ve been talking about. We’ve got a board in there of things that we want to happen each inning ... just things we’ve been working towards. To see them not happen is frustrating.”

Rock Falls coach Steve Giddings said Silva and the team battled back after their early mistakes.

“We told her, ‘You can’t take that stuff with you. You’ve got to let it go and then pitch your game,’ ” he said. “She stepped up again today and pitched a good game.”

He said the offense was able to relax as it took advantage of Dixon’s errors.

“Before, they’ve been real anxious and just trying to hit out of their shoes, but we finally got them to relax and calm down,” he said. “So that’s working for us right now.”

To beat Dixon by 10 runs in conference play gives the Rockets momentum.

“It’s definitely going to build our confidence for our games coming up,” Silva said. “Just hope to keep winning.”

Silva said staying positive is a big key for the team.

“When we stay positive, we play together and we really connect,” she said. “That’s something that last year’s team didn’t have. We weren’t really connected. Our team this year is really just all one. It feels like a true family.”