When the games were on the line, the Southwest Mississippi Community College baseball team took advantage of Mississippi Delta’s mistakes to sweep a doubleheader in a divisional matchup at home Friday.
SMCC (15-6, 5-3) won Game 1 6-3 in a match scheduled for nine innings and Game 2 1-0 in eight innings. The second game was scheduled to be seven innings, but was scoreless at the end of regulation.
“I thought it was a good baseball game both ways,” Bears head coach Ken Jackson said. “…We did take advantage of their errors. We got some key hits we needed to in Game 1. I can’t say enough about our pitching today. We go through eight innings of Game 2, give up one hit, walked a couple of batters here and there, but I thought we pitched real well. I thought we played good defense. It was just a good team effort to win the ballgame.”
Although the Bears committed five errors in the first game, they put together a three-run bottom of the eighth to break a tie and take a 6-3 lead.
Pinch hitter Darian Tunstall opened the inning with a strikeout, but took first base when the ball got away from the catcher. The next hitter, Brady Anderson, attempted a sacrifice bunt, but reached second base safely on a throwing error by MDCC’s third baseman. Tunstall took third base on the play.
Zach Giacona belted a one-run double to left center field scoring Tunstall. Jesse Pittman followed with a one-run single scoring Anderson. Giacona scored when Walt Aldridge hit into a double play.
In the bottom of the eighth in the second game, Aldridge reached on a throwing error by the MDCC third baseman to open the inning. The Trojans pitchers hit Giacona and L.D. Coney to load the bases with just one out.
Jarvis Warner, a pinch runner for Aldridge, scored on a walk to Anderson to win the game.
Lee Quates pitched all 71⁄3 innings of Game 2 for the Trojans giving up three hits, one run and one walk while recording six strikeouts.
However, the three Bears pitchers gave up one hit combined.
Tunstall, in his first start of the season, went 5 innings giving up one hit and five walks while recording four strikeouts. Gerald Groue went the next 2 innings giving up one walk while recording one strikeout. Dylan Spiers was the winning pitcher for SMCC throwing the eighth inning giving up one walk and recording two strikeouts.
“I felt like we had a situation where we could match up with him (Quates),” Jackson said. “The guys threw strikes. That was Darian’s first start for the year. I thought he did an excellent job. I thought we matched up well with them going into the game. If we just throw strikes and keep the ball around the plate, we had a chance to win.”
Tyler Pigott threw the first 7 innings of game one giving up no earned runs and one walk while recording two strikeouts. Kaleb Clarke came in for the last 2 innings to get the win. He gave up one earned run while recording one strikeout.
SMCC’s defense got out of several jams in both games.
MDCC had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the second after an infield single and two walks. Tunstall got the next two hitters to strikeout and groundout to end the frame. He gave up two walks in the top of the fifth, but the inning ended on a lineout to second base.
The Trojans loaded the bases in the top of the first in Game 1 with two singles and a walk, but Pigott got the next hitter to popout.
With one out in the top of the fourth, the Trojans’ batter hit the ball between shallow center and right field. The ball dropped and scored as an error. The runner tried to reach second base on the play. The shortstop Giacona relayed the ball into Pittman at second base to tag the runner out.
MDCC’s first run in Game 1 came in the top of the second inning. A hitter reached on an error, stole second base and went to third on a throwing error by the catcher Aldridge on the steal. He scored on a groundout RBI.
Another Trojans run came home in the top of the seventh on a double, hit batsman, error and sacrifice fly. The third run scored in the top of the eighth on a single, throwing error by the pitcher Clarke on a pickoff attempt and a one-run single.
SMCC scored two in the bottom of the sixth. Warner was hit by a pitch and scored on a Duncan Cornfoot sacrifice fly. Aldridge walked and his pinch runner, John Marcus McDowell, scored on an Anderson bases-loaded walk.
Aldridge belted a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh. McDowell, once again the pinch runner, scored on a Ross Buckley opposite-field double to left.
Aldridge and Buckley were each 2 for 4 with one RBI and one walk in Game 1, Cornfoot was 1 for 2 with one RBI and one walk, Steven Williams was 2 for 4, Giacona was 2 for 4 with one RBI and one run and Pittman was 1 for 3 with one RBI.
Buckley was 1 for 3 in Game 2 with a double, Tanner Whittington was 1 for 3 and Spiers was 1 for 2.
SMCC is at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville for a doubleheader Wednesday with the first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.
