Rouse’s strong pitching gets No. 18 Bulldogs a split

PERKINSTON — No. 18 Mississippi Gulf Coast's bats went cold in the second game of its doubleheader against Meridian here Wednesday at Ross-Smith Field, and the Bulldogs finished the day with a split.

Karley Rouse threw another strong game in an 8-2 win in Game 1, but the Bulldogs lost 4-3 in the second.

"They made one or two more plays than us in Game 2," Gulf Coast coach David Kuhn said. "We played really well in the first game, and I thought we played good defense all day long. We just couldn't score runs in Game 2."

Annaston Tate (Fr., Waynesboro/Wayne County) had a two-run triple in the sixth inning of the first game to open up the final margin. Baleigh Tullos (Fr., Hurley/East Central) had two doubles and an RBI, and Irina Sanford (So., Lucedale/George County) had two hits, including a double.

Rouse, a sophomore from D'Iberville, needed just 81 pitches in the first game. She threw a six-hitter, striking out four.

"She throws a lot of strikes and gets ahead of hitters," Kuhn said. "She gets ahead and stays ahead."

Abby Lindsey (Fr., Decatur, Ala./Austin) had three hits in the first game, including a double. She hit her third home run in four games to get Gulf Coast within 4-3 in the sixth, but the Bulldogs couldn't get anything else across.

"She had another one she hammered that just got held up by the wind," Kuhn said. "The wind giveth and the win taketh away."

Tate doubled, but the Bulldogs managed just four hits.

Gulf Coast has its MACCC open date this weekend, and the Bulldogs play the next three conference doubleheaders on the road. They'll be at Copiah-Lincoln on Friday. First pitch in Wesson will be at 5 p.m.

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