The Southwest Mississippi Community College softball team dropped a pair of games to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Lady Bulldogs, ranked second in the National Junior College Athletic Association, in Perkinston on Wednesday afternoon.
Gulf Coast won the opener 9-0 in five innings before coming back to get a 6-2 win in the finale.
With the losses, the Lady Bears fell to 17-15 overall and 10-8 in the MACJC while the Lady Bulldogs climbed to 29-3 and 12-3.
The losses came despite the efforts of sophomore Austin Pruitt. The outfielder from Pearl River Central High School picked up four hits in the twin bill, extending her team-record hitting streak to 17 consecutive games. The hits also gave her a Southwest career record 82.
A two-run homer from Deborah Elmore in the first inning gave the Lady Bulldogs all the runs they would need in the opener. They went on to add a run in the second, five in the third and one in the fourth.
Macy Fulton took the loss in the circle for the Lady Bears, allowing nine runs — seven earned — on 10 hits. She struck out one batter and walked one.
Pruitt had a double and single for the Lady Bears, while Jenna Duff also hit safely.
The Lady Bears trailed 2-0 before getting on the board in the top of the third in Game 2. With two outs, Jessie Penton was hit by a pitch and Pruitt followed with a homer over the fence in centerfield to tie the game at 2-2. She later singled in the game.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the fifth when a leadoff homer by Lexie Mathis put the Lady Bulldogs back on top for good, 3-2. They went on to add three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Rebecca Davis took the loss for the Lady Bears. She surrendered six runs on 12 hits while striking out one and walking two. McKenzie Brock had a single in the game.
“We didn’t do a good job of hitting the ball and making adjustments to the pitchers,” Lady Bears’ head coach Shea Johnson said.
Johnson said both Gulf Coast starting pitchers Kaitlin Lee and Nora Keehn went into the day with earned run averages of under 1.00.
“When you face that kind of pitching, you have to take advantage of the hits you get,” Johnson said.
“I thought we played better in the second game. We closed it to a 2-2 ballgame and kept it there until the fifth. Overall I’m not disappointed in the effort, but if we’re going to make it to the next level, which is what we’re striving for in our program, this is the kind of team you’ve got to beat. You can’t just say they’re the number two team in the nation. You’re going to face these in the playoffs, which is where we want to be.”
The Lady Bears are scheduled to return to action Friday with a home doubleheader against conference foe Itawamba. Game 1 of the matchup is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
