Strong pitching, 3 HRs power Bulldogs to 3rd straight win

PERKINSTON — There was a satisfied look on Mississippi Gulf Coast baseball coach Bob Keller's face after Friday's 9-2 win over Enterprise State.

"You know why I'm so happy?" he said. "Two straight games with no mound visits."

The Bulldogs have won three straight to start the season.

Adrian Byrd (So., Wiggins/Stone) and Brayden Scott (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) combined to hold down the Boll Weevils, who opened the season at Ken "Curly" Farris Field. Byrd struck out six in five innings of work, allowing just five infield singles. Scott got an old-school save, striking out three in four innings. They allowed one run each.

Kaden Irving (Fr., Gautier/Gautier), Charlie Olsen (So., Gulfport/Gulfport) and Dom Jackson (Fr., Gulf Breeze, Fla./Gulf Breeze) homered for the Bulldogs. Irving's was a three-run inside-the-park job in the first, while lefties Olsen and Jackson clubbed no-doubters to right in the seventh and eighth, respectively.

Marc Stephens (So., Orange Beach, Ala./Gulf Shores) continued his sizzling start, going 3-for-3 with a double, two walks and three runs scored. He's batting .750 after three games, slugging .916 and getting on base at a .812 clip. Stephens and Keller talked about laying off the outside fastball that caused him some problems last year.

"The approach of waiting on mine and letting them come to me has been paying off," Stephens said. "I try to keep getting on base and score runs."

Gulf Coast got seven hits in the final two innings to blow the game open. Jayden Mark (So., Petal/Petal) had an RBI single ahead of Olsen's blast.

The Bulldogs have used only five pitchers in the last two games, giving up six runs. They have struck out 24 in 18 innings.

"I was really happy to see Brayden Scott come in and pitch strong," Keller said. "He didn't look like a freshman at all today. He pitched out of a jam and threw a lot of strikes."

Gulf Coast travels to Bay Minette on Saturday to play Coastal Alabama-South. First pitch is set for 2 p.m., and the teams will play a single nine-inning game.

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