Bulldogs split MACCC opener

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast opened the MACCC baseball schedule with a win, but saw a lead evaporate in the nightcap to split against Mississippi Delta.

The Bulldogs won 8-2 at Ken "Curly" Farris Field before a 16-8 defeat in Game 2.

Nick Thornton (Fr., Pearl/Brandon) hit a three-run homer in the second inning of Game 1 to put Gulf Coast in control. DJ Walker (So., Brandon/Brandon) homered in the third inning and also had two doubles.

Blake King (Fr., Petal/Petal) threw 7.2 innings of one-run ball, striking out six and walking one. He allowed seven hits and improved to 3-1.

Thornton, Charlie Olsen (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport), Marc Stephens (Fr., Orange Beach, Ala./Gulf Shores) and Blake Roberts (Fr., Petal/Petal) had two hits.

In the second game, the Bulldogs were up 8-3 after five. Charlie Keller (Fr., Mobile, Ala./Mobile Christian) hit his NJCAA-leading 11^th homer to break a 2-2 tie in the third. Thornton had an RBI single and Roberts squeezed in a runner to make it 6-2.

Kade Carpenter (So., Vancleave/Vancleave) hit a solo homer in the fifth, and Olsen added an RBI single.

The Trojans (5-12) scored 11 times in the sixth and added two more in the seventh to earn the split.

Gulf Coast will travel to Wesson on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Copiah-Lincoln. The games will be streamed at https://colinathletics.com/watch.

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.