Southwest Mississippi Community College split a baseball twinbill with Mississippi Gulf Coast on Tuesday with the Bears winning Game 1, 8-1, and the Bulldogs taking the nightcap 11-2.
The split left Southwest at 20-18 on the season, while Gulf Coast moved to 21-12.
The Bears fell behind 1-0 in the third inning of Game 1 before coming to life to go up 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
Brandon Simon led off the inning with a single and was replaced on the bases by courtesy runner Tommy Braddock, who moved to third on a Laramie Pittman double and scored on a Rob Thames single.
Thomas Daughdrill was hit by a pitch to load the bases before a groundout at second allowed Pittman to cross the plate and Kyle Adams to reach first.
Josh Bouldin and Derek Morgan each singled to drive home Thames and Adams, respectively. The final run of the inning came when Bouldin scored on a Scoot McDaniel single.
Southwest added two more runs in the fifth inning when Morgan walked with the bases loaded to score Pittman, and an infield single by McDaniel scored Adams, who had earlier singled.
The Bears’ final run came in the sixth when Pittman hit his second double to score Braddock who was on as a courtesy runner for Simon. Simon had singled to lead off the inning, his third base hit of the day.
Ryan Hickman (6-2) went the distance on the mound to pick up the victory. The freshman right-hander allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked three. Pittman added a single to his two doubles, and Bouldin singled twice.
In Game 2, Southwest took a 2-0 lead after two innings. Morgan was hit by a pitch to lead off the first inning and later scored on a two-out triple by Simon.
In the second inning, first baseman Eric Boyd led off with a double and scored on an Adams single.
That proved to be all the offense the Bears could muster as the Bulldogs came alive with three runs in the fourth inning, two in the fifth and six in the sixth to take the victory.
Justin Franciskato (4-1) pitched 41/3 innings to take the loss for Southwest. Kyle Wheeler had a double for the Bears while Adams also doubled.
Southwest returns to action Saturday with a doubleheader at Hinds. Game 1 is set for 1 p.m.
