Softball celebrates Mardi Gras with 2 wins

Mississippi Gulf Coast got its first two victories under new softball head coach Izzy Werdann, winning twice on the final day of the Mardi Gras Invitational in Youngsville, La.

The Bulldogs edged Angelina 4-3, followed by a 10-0 win over Baton Rouge in five innings. Caroline Batson (So., Wiggins/Stone) had two doubles against the Roadrunners, and McKenzie Smith (Fr., St. Amant La./Prairieville) saved the opener then pitched four more no-hit innings to win the second.

"It was amazing because the first game wasn't ours the whole time," Werdann said. "We played from behind most of the game, and so I told them in the fifth inning that they needed to dig in, and this is where they show their dog. We scored four runs to go up, then we closed the door. Getting that one out of the way just felt amazing, like we really pulled together as a team. That was two team wins."

Gulf Coast bounced back from a Thursday defeat at the hands of defending NJCAA Division I champ Northwest Florida. Down 2-0 headed to the bottom of the fifth, Elizabeth Colson (Fr., Biloxi/St. Patrick) delivered a pinch-hit single to drive in Batson, who had doubled.

Brooklyn Mitchell (So., Gulfport/St. Patrick) hit a ground ball that forced an error to tie it, and Kailee Lawson (Fr., Hurley/East Central) did the same the next at-bat. Mitchell scored on a passed ball for a 4-2 lead.

Batson allowed a run in the sixth, then yielded to Smith after allowing a leadoff single in the seventh. Smith retired the next three batters, two by strikeouts to close it out.

"Carol had a great weekend," Batson said. "She hit a little bit over 500 for the weekend, which is incredible, and she shoved for six innings. She got a lot of mishit balls and really did a great job." 

Smith kept rolling in the second game, holding Baton Rouge without a hit while striking out three. The Bulldog bats got rolling, too. Baleigh Tullos (So., Hurley/East Central) had three hits, and Lexi Patterson (Fr., Ackerman/Choctaw County) drove in three runs with two hits.

Mitchell and Kinsey Cochran (So., Hurley/East Central) also had two hits. Cochran doubled.

"Kinsey had a great weekend," Werdann said. "She hit over .500 and had an on-base percentage over .600, so she did a really great job setting the tone for us at the top of the lineup."

The Bulldogs play in another tournament next weekend in Dothan, Ala. Their action in the Chipola Visit Dothan Invitational begins Friday at 3 p.m. against Wallace-Dothan, followed by a game against Enterprise State. Saturday's games are against Central Alabama and Lurleen B. Wallace.

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