Travis’ 2nd HR earns Bulldogs a split

Rakeya Travis hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast to an 11-10 win over San Jacinto-South and earn a split on the first day of the Youngsville Invitational.

The Bulldogs lost their first game in 620 days in the opener, falling 13-7 to McLellan.

"I was disappointed after Game 1 because I didn't think we played like we should," Gulf Coast coach Eric Neel said. "When you lay and egg like that, it's good to come back like we did, especially against the kind of competition over here."

K.K. Agner (Fr., Horn Lake/Magnolia Heights) also hit a home run in the second game.

Gulf Coast finished the COVID-shortened season last year 14-0 and hadn't lost since the end of the previous season, April 28, 2018.

Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville) also hit a home run in the first game, and she now has 10 homers in 15 college games. She went 4-for-8 with seven RBI, including a two-run triple in the seventh inning of the second game to tie the score at 7 and force extra innings.

"She's excited to play against a lot of people who don't know who she is so she's seeing some pitches," said Neel.

The extra innings used the international tiebreaker rule starting from the eighth, and San Jac scored once. Grace Allgood (Fr., Hurley/East Central) tied it with a two-out single.

The Coyotes got two in the ninth, before Alexis Laughlin (So., Hurley/East Central) hit an infield single with Caroline Moore on base to set up Travis' blast.

Gulf Coast will play two more games in the tournament Saturday. The Bulldogs play Lamar State-Port Arthur at 9 a.m. and Northwest Florida State at 2 p.m.

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