No. 18 MGCCC waits until late to finish sweep

PERKINSTON — No. 18 Mississippi Gulf Coast used a late rally to overcome a five-run hole to close out a sweep of Copiah-Lincoln on Wednesday at Ken "Curly" Farris Field.

Brandon Parker (Fr, West Harrison/Saucier) hit a two-run, game-tying home run in the seventh and Alden Davis (Fr, Pascagoula/Pascagoula) had a walk-off single in the eighth to win claim a 6-5 win for reliever Kole Kittrell (Fr, Greene County/State Line) in the nightcap.

"That's a big win knowing we're down 5-0 and hadn't played well the first three innings," Gulf Coast coach Rodney Batts said. "We've made comebacks throughout the year, but not to that degree. That's a big win for us."

The Bulldogs (18-4, 2-2 MACJC) won the opener 13-5 in seven innings behind a five-RBI performance by Dylan Menhennett. Co-Lin is 11-6, 0-4.

Gulf Coast stopped a three-game slide and got back to .500 in the conference. The Bulldogs entertain Coahoma on Saturday. First pitch in Perkinston is at 2 p.m.

Kittrell (3-0) entered the game to start the fourth inning, and he put five big zeroes on the board for the Bulldogs. He struck out seven, allowed one hit and walked one. The first batter he faced got the hit, but he stranded him at second and nobody else got past first.

"The adrenaline was pumping through me like crazy," he said. "As it went along, I kept getting stronger. The pitches started hitting locations."

The Bulldogs cut the deficit to 5-1 on a wild pitch in the fourth, and Parker doubled in a run in the fifth.

Ike Williams (Fr, St. Martin/Biloxi) singled to lead off the seventh, and Davis doubled him in with one out. The next pitch got lasered over the right-field wall by Parker to tie it up.

"It was a no-doubter when I hit it," he said. "I knew it felt good coming off the bat."

Parker leads the nation with 13 home runs and had six RBI Wednesday to bring his total to 43, also tops in NJCAA Division II.

MGCCC loaded the bases with three walks after that but had to wait until extra innings to win. Williams again singled to lead off the inning, and Menhennett sacrificed him to second.

Davis ripped a 1-1 pitch into the left-field corner to set off a wild, water-slinging celebration.

"I was trying to get a line drive like I'd been doing all day and let (Brandon) come up and hit," he said. "I guess it worked out for me."

Gulf Coast scored in every inning but the sixth in the opener. Menhennett had a double and a triple among his three hits, and Fisher Ray (Fr, George County/Bruce), Williams and Parker had two hits.

Josh Lewis (5-0) picked up the win, striking out five in five innings.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.