After getting splits in the two previous series, the Southwest Mississippi Community College baseball team was hoping to get over the hump and pick up their first sweep of the season in a road contest against Jones.
However, the Bobcats weren’t having any of it, rallying to hand the Bears an 11-3 loss in Game 1 and a 3-1 loss in Game 2.
“We didn’t throw well in Game 1 and we got down too far to come back on a good team,” SMCC head coach Jack Edmonson said. “In Game 2, we played much better but didn’t get timely hits when we needed them and Jones did.”
In Game 1, the Bears (9-19, 4-10) struck first in the first inning when Jerod Williams hit into a fielder’s choice, allowing Hunter Harrell to score and putting the visitors up 1-0.
The Bobcats then scored a pair of runs in the bottom half to take the lead.
Two more runs from Jones in the second made it a 4-1 deficit for Southwest before a five-run frame in the third put the Bears in an even deeper hole at 9-1.
Braiden Jones hit a solo home run in the fourth, his third consecutive game with a long ball, before Austin Samples singled in Braxton Cooksey, cutting the Bobcat lead to 9-3.
In Game 2, the Bears fell behind 1-0 in the second inning and had difficulty trying to respond. That deficit grew to two in the bottom of the fourth and three in the fifth.
Southwest scored its run to open the sixth when Harrell homered to left making it a 3-1 game. Ensuing batter Brady Wilson reached via a walk.
Harrell led the Bears going 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Southwest returns home today, playing host to Itawamba.
lady bears drop 2
Heading into Thursday’s home doubleheader against Jones, the Lady Bears knew that they had a tough task ahead of them against the No. 5 Lady Bobcats.
And despite scoring at least seven runs in each contest against a Top 10 team, Southwest could not close the deal, losing Game 1 11-7 before dropping the nightcap 17-9.
“These girls, they had the fight tonight,” SMCC head coach Shea Johnson said. “They made some uncharacteristic errors in the second game that cost us. They (Jones) are a good hitting team and when you get the chance to get an out, you have to get the out and can’t give them a second chance.”
The Lady Bears (20-7, 7-7) found themselves down 2-0 at the midway point of the first inning in Game 1, but answered back on RBI singles from Aundria Eirls and Kacey Stampley.
Another two-run inning from Southwest in the second on an RBI double fro Mel Lewis followed by an RBI single from Eirls, gave the Lady Bears their first lead at 4-2.
A home run in the third tied the game at four before the visitors jumped ahead 5-4 with an RBI double in the fourth. In the bottom half of the inning, Halee Jenkins hit her first home run of the season — a two-run shot over the left field wall —giving Southwest the lead once again at 6-5.
The Lady Bears are at Itawamba today.
