No. 25 MGCCC notches four-game sweep

PERKINSTON — No. 25 Mississippi Gulf Coast closed out a four-game sweep of Clark State at Ken "Curly" Farris Field on Friday. The Bulldogs had only nine hits, but maximized them for a 4-3 win followed by an 11-1 victory in five innings in a pair of games finished in under 100 minutes each.

Garrett Gardner (Fr., Madison/Madison-Ridgeland Academy) and Jordan Davis (So., Neshoba/Neshoba Central) had solo homers in the first game, and Layton Eder (So., Vancleave/Vancleave) clubbed a grand slam in the second, which ensured James Vines' four no-hit innings ended happily. 

"We pitched it well and played clean D for the most part all day," Gulf Coast coach Zach Allen. "That's two quick games. When you're playing defense, and you're throwing strikes, you're able to play those kinds of games."

The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 on the season, and the Eagles from Springfield, Ohio, started knocking the winter rust off with their first outdoor action of 2026.

Clark State starter Luke Burroughs, a Miami (Ohio) signee, held the Bulldogs down until there were two outs in the third. Banks Teater (Fr., Magee/Purvis) walked, and Davis singled. Anthony Tanner (Fr., Hurley/East Central) tripled for a two-run lead.

Gardner's home run was answered by a two-run shot by the Eagles, but Davis swatted his homer in the fifth to make it a two-run lead again. Clark State got within 4-3 after a dropped third strike with two outs in the sixth allowed a run to score, but Wade Barr (So., Collins/Seminary) came in to pick up a save. 

"There's lightning bolts that we have in that offense that we can hit a home run at any time where the inning's never over," Allen said. "You get two outs quick, we can split a gap, steal a bag, and score some runs in a hurry."

Gardner and Davis had two hits each.

Alex Love (Fr., Hernando/Northpoint Christian) got the win, striking out five in a four-inning start. He allowed two hits.

"Vines set the tone in Game 2," Allen said. "He was getting strikeouts. He could have limited the walks some, but he set the tone and got it where we needed to go, where you could have the bullpen come in behind and pound it and go from there."

The Bulldogs scored twice in the first on a wild pitch followed by an error, but it wasn't until the fourth that they did the biggest damage, scoring nine times. Eder's homer to right made it 7-0, and Ben Davis (Fr., Lucedale/George County) delivered a double later for the final two Bulldogs runs.

The Bulldogs entertain Baton Rouge on Tuesday for a single, nine-inning game. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.