No. 21 Bulldogs lose 2 tight games

No. 21 Mississippi Gulf Coast took its first two MACCC losses Tuesday at Meridian, losing a 9-8 heartbreaker in 13 innings followed by a 3-0 defeat in the nightcap.

In the first game, the Bulldogs (20-10, 4-2 MACCC) erased a 4-1 deficit by scoring seven unanswered runs. Dom Jackson's MACCC-leading 10^th homer gave them a 5-4 lead in the seventh, and they tacked on three more in the eighth.

Meridian (18-10, 5-1) tied it up in the bottom of the inning, and neither team could score until the Eagles pushed across the run in the 13^th. Gulf Coast left 20 runners on base in 13 innings.

Naji Cain (Fr, Columbia/Columbia) had Gulf Coast's third four-hit game of the season, with a double and RBI singles in the second and fourth innings. Kaden Irving (So, Gautier/Gautier) had three hits, and Tanner Ladner (So, Pass Christian/Hancock) had two, including a double. Jacob Palazzo (So, Biloxi/Gulfport) had a two-run double, and Brandon Coakley (Fr, Covington, La./Covington) also doubled.

Eli Waters (So, Petal/Petal) allowed six hits in his seven-inning start, striking out three and allowing three earned runs.

The Bulldogs didn't get a hit until the fifth inning of the second game, and Samuel Marsh (So, Monroe, La./Neville) got tagged with an unlucky defeat. He allowed five hits and three runs in six innings, striking out eight with only one walk.

Gulf Coast will play Florida Post-Grad on Friday. The single, nine-inning game starts at noon. It will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.

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