The Southwest Bears’ stay in the MACJC state playoffs was a short one. The top-seeded Hinds Eagles, ranked third in the NJCAA, completed a two-game sweep of the Bears Saturday afternoon winning Game 2 of the series 14-3.
The Bears close the 2015 campaign with a 20-24 mark. Hinds moves to 38-5 as they advance to next week’s double-elimination championship tournament.
The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first Saturday when L.D. Coney led off the game with a walk and stole second. Moving to third base on Walt Aldridge’s base hit, Coney then scored on Ross Buckley’s sacrifice fly.
Hinds exploded in the bottom of the inning as the Eagles scored nine runs to go on top 9-1. They added a solo run in the second and three more in the fourth to extend their lead to 13-1.
The Bears scored the final runs of the game in the top of the fifth. Dylan Spiers and Bryce Laird walked to open the frame and moved to third and second, respectively, on a Jarvis Warner ground out before scoring on Coney’s base hit.
Jacob Buchanan took the loss on the mound, giving up three earned runs on a hit and walk, with less than a full inning of action. Brady Badon, Kaleb Clarke, Sam Richard and Jade Whitten also saw time on the mound.
Bears unable to hold early lead in game 1
The Southwest Mississippi Community College baseball team started like gangbusters in Game 1 Friday, but the tide turned quickly as they fell to the host Hinds Eagles, 14-3.
The Bears took a 3-0 first-inning lead when L.D. Coney led off the game with a base hit and scored on Walt Aldridge’s line-drive double to centerfield. Ross Buckley then followed with another double to centerfield to send Jarvis Warner (on base for Aldridge) across the plate. Later in the inning, Duncan Cornfoot reached base on a fielder’s choice and scored on Dylan Spiers’ base hit.
Three hits, two walks and a wild pitch allowed the Eagles (37-5), top-seeded in the playoffs and ranked third in the NJCAA, to score four runs and take a 4-3 lead. They then added five runs in the third for a 9-3 lead and picked up their final runs in the fourth.
Cliff Hurst pitched 31⁄3 innings to take the loss for the Bears (20-23). He surrendered 11 runs (six earned) on eight hits while walking two and striking out two.
Brady Anderson, Cornfoot, Trent Gordy and Steven Williams each had a single in the game.
