No. 3 Gulf Coast sweeps Southwest
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Southwest Mississippi Community College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
|
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Southwest Mississippi Community College | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
|
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
PERKINSTON – Mississippi Gulf Coast's big bats were briefly quieted during Wednesday's doubleheader against Southwest.
They thundered early and late, though, propelling the Lady Bulldogs to a 9-0 victory in five innings in Game 1, and a 6-2 win in the second game.
Deborah Elmore's two-run home in the first inning got Gulf Coast (29-3, 13-3 MACJC) going, and Lexie Mathis' solo home run in the fifth inning of Game 2 broke a 2-2 tie.
"I think we kind of lost our focus," Mathis said. "But then we came back and were a lot more focus with our approach at the plate."
Gulf Coast is ranked third in the latest NJCAA Division II poll, which came out Wednesday. The Lady Bulldogs dropped a spot after a 3-1 week, which included a split at Jones. Jones also fell one spot, to sixth.
After scoring in each inning of Game 1, Gulf Coast scored single runs in the first two innings. But Southwest's Austin Pruitt's two-run homer in the third tied it up.
Mathis' blast, her 13th of the season, broke the tie. She turned on an inside screwball and hit it out through a breeze to center.
Brittany Cooley homered with nobody on and two out in the sixth to start a three-run outburst.
"I'm so glad for Cooley," Gulf Coast coach Kenneth Long said. "She's really a tough player. I'm proud she got that home run."
Mathis followed with a triple and scored on Hannah Melendrez's double. Elmore's single drove in the final run.
Mathis was 3-for-4 with two RBI in the second game. Elmore, Melendrez and Kelli Berry had two hits.
Kaitlin Lee (14-1) allowed two runs on three hits, striking out six. She walked one and hit three batters.
In the opener, Cooley, Melendrez and Hardy had two hits each. Izzy Werdann had a two-run double in a five-run third.
"We worked on some short game stuff in practice which worked out for us," Long said. "It put them in some pressure situations. And Deb hit the long ball that got us going."
Nora Keehn (9-1) allowed three hits, striking out four. She didn't walk anybody.
Southwest falls to 17-15, 10-8.
Gulf Coast returns to action Saturday at Ross-Smith Field when Northwest visits. The doubleheader starts at noon.
