Bulldogs lose twice at No. 7 PRCC

PHOTO BY PATRICK OCHS/PRCC

The razor-thin margins of MACCC competition were on bright display Wednesday when Mississippi Gulf Coast traveled the 26 miles to Poplarville to play No. 7 Pearl River.

The Bulldogs were within a handful outs of a sweep of the Wildcats but had to make the trip back to Perk after taking a pair of losses. They had a lead in the ninth but lost 2-1 in 10 innings in the first game, and led in the fifth inning of the nightcap before falling 10-6.

Gulf Coast is now 8-8 and finished a gantlet of four straight doubleheaders against Top-11 teams to start the MACCC season, including sweeps of No. 11 Northeast and No. 4 Northwest Mississippi. The Bulldogs are 5-3 after that demanding test. Pearl River is 14-4, 4-2.

The story of the day for Gulf Coast was Dawson Flowers (Fr., Brookhaven/Brookhaven Academy), who was tremendous in the opener. He allowed just two hits in the first eight innings, a third-inning single with two outs and an eighth-inning leadoff single.

Pearl River stacked back-to-back doubles to lead off the ninth to tie the game up, and Flowers got two groundouts to end a first-and-third threat to force extra innings.

In nine complete innings, he struck out five and walked five.

Alec Hardy (Fr., Wiggins/Stone) led off the 10th with a single but got erased trying to steal, and Pearl River was able to turn a one-out walk into a walk-off win on a two-out single.

The Bulldogs scratched across their run in the third with a two-out rally. Josh Cary (Fr., Petal/Petal) and Brendan McCauley (Fr., Gulfport/Harrison Central) singled before Alex McWhorter was hit by a pitch.

Cary scored on a balk, and Flowers nearly made it stand up.

In the second game, Pearl River scored four times in the first inning. Gulf Coast bats were quiet until fourth inning when McWhorter singled and was driven in on a single by Dawson Walters (Fr., Flora/Tri-County Academy).

The offense really cranked up in the next frame. Canaan Ray (Fr., Poplarville/Poplarville) doubled, with Cary and McCauley following with singles to cut the deficit to 4-2.

McWhorter delivered a big blast immediately thereafter, blasting a three-run homer through a stiff wind to center field for a one-run lead.

Pearl River tied it in the fifth, then scored five times with two outs in the sixth to set the stage for the sweep.

McWhorter three hits in the second game, including a seventh-inning double that saw him driven in by Luke Welborn (Fr., Locust Grove, Ga./Locust Grove).

Gulf Coast gets an open date this weekend before traveling to Decatur on Tuesday for a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

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