Bulldogs split with Bears

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast got a monstrous first game from Alex McWhorter in a doubleheader with Baton Rouge on Tuesday at Ken "Curly" Farris Field.

McWhorter had a grand slam and a two-run single in a 12-8 victory in the opener, and Preston Ratliff picked up the win on the mound while hitting two home runs. The Bears rebounded to rally for a 6-2 win the nightcap. 

"He's been good all year, been full of big hits," Gulf Coast coach Robert Keller said. "It's not just his talent and ability, it goes along with his character. He's just a winner all the way around."

Gulf Coast is now 2-4 on the season with a road trip Friday to play Wallace State and Parkland in Decatur on Friday. Baton Rouge is 5-8.

After Baton Rouge scored in the top of the first, the Bulldogs loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. McWhorter (So., Semmes, Ala./Faith Academy) hit a 2-2 pitch out of the park in center field.

His bases-loaded single in the second made it 6-2, and the Bulldogs kept fighting off Baton Rouge challenges. Matthew DeLano (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) pitched a hitless 1.1 innings to close the game out.

Ratliff (So., Slidell, La./Northshore), who started on the mound, had two home runs among his three hits. Jesse Johnson (So., Purvis/Purvis) and Sean Smith (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) also homered. Ratliff and Alec Hardy (So., Wiggins/Stone) had three hits each for the Bulldogs, who pounded out 15 as a team. 

Noah Nicholson (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave) allowed just one hit in four shutout innings in the second game. He left the game up 2-0, but the Bulldogs couldn't hold the lead. Baton Rouge scored three times in the fifth and again in the sixth for the win.

"I told the boys we don't hang our heads," Keller said. "We get better tomorrow. That's what we're going to do. We're just going to take this one day at a time."

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