‘Ultra-competitive’ Bulldogs get great pitching in split

Mississippi Gulf Coast made an epic comeback to win the opener in its MACCC baseball doubleheader at East Mississippi, then lost a marathon in the nightcap.

"It was an extremely crazy day," said Gulf Coast coach Bob Keller.

The Bulldogs rallied from allowing an eight-run first inning and won 15-9 before falling 3-2 in 11 innings in the second game. JC Stogner (So., Sumrall/Sumrall) pitched 8.2 innings of clutch relief in the opener, and Matthew DeLano (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) and Jesse Johnson (So., Purvis/Purvis) combined to strike out 17 in the second.

Gulf Coast (13-18) has split all eight of its conference doubleheaders and remains in a tie for sixth place. East Mississippi (16-13, 11-5) started the day in second place and ended it in third, but tied with Hinds for second in the loss column.

The Lions hit three home runs in the first inning to jump out 8-0 and led 9-1 after three. The Bulldogs scored a run in the fourth, four in the fifth and another in the sixth to set up the final surge. They scored three runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

Johnson, who played third base until being called into relief in the second game, clubbed a tying three-run homer in the seventh. Alex McWhorter (So., Semmes, Ala./Faith Academy) had one of his own in the ninth for more insurance.

Stogner, the sidearmer, just kept slinging it. He finished with 11 strikeouts against one walk, allowing three runs on eight hits. Only one run came after the first inning.

"JC just gave us a herculean, superstar effort," Keller said. "He went out there and put the team on his back. We had some big hits. It was a very, very emotional game. Our guys came back and played really, really well. They fought super hard."

Johnson also doubled and finished with four RBI. McWhorter, Brendan McCauley (So., Gulfport/Harrison Central) and Sean Smith (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) had two hits each.

DeLano struck out 10 batters in seven innings, scattering seven hits. He threw a couple of wild pitches that allowed a run to score in the seventh to tie it, but he struck out the next two batters with the winning run at third to force extra innings.

Johnson came in and pitched the next three innings, striking out seven. He didn't allow a hit until two leadoff hits in the 11^th, and an error on a bunt allowed the winning run to score.

"We punched out 17 guys," Keller said. "DeLano and Jesse were really great. Their guy went 11 innings, but it's a game of inches. We had some opportunities early in the game and didn't get it done. We fought through it anyway."

Gulf Coast travels to Jones on Tuesday in a battle of sixth-place teams. First pitch in Ellisville is set for 3 p.m.

"Our team was ultra-competitive for the whole day," Keller said. "If we play like this down the stretch, we're going to be a team to be reckoned with. I'm super proud of their effort, and we'll have better days ahead. We're starting to gel as a team."

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