WESSON — Southwest Mississippi Community College put its best foot forward in the Coca-Cola Baseball Challenge with Copiah-Lincoln Community College on Tuesday.
Eric Boyd hit a two-run homer in the first inning as Southwest won the first of two 5-2. The Bears lost 4-1 in the night cap.
Boyd added a RBI double in the third to chase Co-Lin’s starter from the game. The Bears (12-16, 2-6) added two more in the sixth, and Taylor Riggs pitched six strong innings for the victory.
“I had every pitch working,” Riggs said. “I could have thrown any pitch I wanted any time I wanted for a strike — up in the count, down in the count, full count, a curveball, changeup or fastball.”
Riggs struck out two over his six innings and allowed two runs, but aside from a line-drive homer in the sixth and a run-scoring double that froze centerfielder Josh Smith just enough to get over his head, Riggs forced Co-Lin (11-16, 4-6) to go station to station.
The Wolfpack wasn’t able to string much together.
Southwest added insurance runs in the sixth with a solo homer to left by Brandon Simon.
Steven Bowman reached on an error and scored on Steven Mercier’s single to left to make it 5-1 at the time.
Riggs hit the first batter of the seventh and was replaced by closer Coty Saranthus, who picked up the save and continued on starting the second game of the doubleheader.
“Our plan is for him to close the first one and start the second,” Southwest head coach Lee Kuyrkendall said. “He hasn’t had any arm problems and he rebounds very fast from outings. He’s one of the few guys who can do that.”
While the Bears were held at bay by the breaking ball of Joseph Evans, Co-Lin was able to get all the runs they would need.
A walk and two singles in the first led to one run, and a ball through first baseman Rob Thames’ legs scored a second.
In the second, an error to start the inning was followed by three singles, which scored a run and loaded the bases.
Saranthus got out of the bases-loaded no out jam giving up just one more run. Co-Lin scored on a groundout to second, but Saranthus got a popup and a strikeout to end the inning.
He went on to retire nine straight batters, but Southwest didn’t find the hits to get the runs back.
“If we make plays early we change the entire momentum of the game,” Kuyrkendall said.
“The story of the game is who made the plays. We did a great job in the first game with good at-bats. We made all our defensive plays, but it was definitely a reversal in game two.”
A leadoff single by Thomas Daughdrill in the fourth didn’t lead to anything.
Mercier’s leadoff single in the fifth got him to third with two outs, but a strikeout ended the inning.
Scoot McDaniel scored in the sixth, but he crossed the plate without a hit by the Bears. He was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a wild pickoff throw and went to third on a passed ball.
With two outs, McDaniel scored when Thames reached on a throw that pulled the first baseman off the bag.
Mercier finished the day with three singles. McDaniel also had three singles and scored three runs for Southwest.
The split ties Co-Lin and Southwest in the Coca-Cola Baseball Challenge with the return trip to Southwest set for April 18. The rivalry games added a little extra to the South Division matchup.
“I haven’t been here very long at all,” Riggs said. “I don’t understand everything, but I do understand rivalries. I got nervous just like pitching in the state championship game in high school.”
Southwest will continue their South Division schedule on Saturday at home against Jones County with first pitch at 2 p.m.
