No. 3 Gulf Coast headed for state tournament

PERKINSTON – No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast punched its ticket to next week's MACJC Tournament, completing a sweep Saturday of East Mississippi at Ross-Smith Field.

The Lady Bulldogs (43-3) downed the Lions 4-1 to win their best-of-three, first-round series. The state tournament will be played in Ellisville, with Gulf Coast the No. 2 seed.

Izzy Werdann provided the big hit, dropping a blooper to left field to score the final two runs of the game in the third inning.

"She hit a ball that wasn't squared it," Gulf Coast coach Kenneth Long said, "but it was a little Texas League hit."

Nora Keehn improved to 13-1 by striking out five and scattering three hits.

"The umpire wasn't giving her the inside corner pitch," Long said. "She battled through it. That's her main pitch, but we realized early she wasn't going to get it."

Gulf Coast took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a Deborah Elmore sacrifice fly.

East Mississippi tied it up in the bottom of the first, but Camry Griffith restored the lead by reaching on an error in the second that allowed a run to score.

East Mississippi ends its season at 19-23.

"They battled us hard, which we knew they were going to do," said Long.

Gulf Coast won't know its opening opponent at the MACJC Tournament until the first-round series between Itawamba and Southwest is over. ICC won Game 1 Saturday, and Gulf Coast will face the Lady Indians if they go on to win the series.

Should Southwest rally to win two games Sunday, Gulf Coast would play East Central.

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