Poplarville remained unbeaten in the Class 4A South State fast-pitch prep softball playoffs Friday night.

The Lady Hornets knocked off visiting North Pike in the first game of the best-of-three South State semifinals, claiming a 10-0 win at Pete Jackson Field.

The same two teams will meet at 5 p.m., today at North Pike in game two. A Poplarville win would secure the series for the Lady Hornets and send them into the South State finals beginning next week.

A win by the Lady Eagles would force a third and deciding game immediately after game two.

Rachel Hickman Hickman picked up the complete game shutout win for Poplarville, striking out nine. She also collected three hits at the plate including a pair of doubles and she drove in a game high five runs.

Branda Northrop added three hits to the winning cause, and she drove in two runs as well. Kristen Herndon smacked a run-scoring triple.

The Lady Hornets moved to 27-2 with the win, and now have three straight wins in the state playoffs.

In local baseball action, Picayune and Pearl were once again delayed in starting their Class 5A South State quarterfinal series because of wet playing conditions for the second straight night.

The Maroon Tide and Pirates will try and begin the best-of-three series tonight at 6 p.m., in Carriere at the Pearl River Central Sports Complex. Game two is set for Sunday at Noon in Pearl, and game three, if necessary, would follow at 2 p.m.

The winner of the Picayune-Pearl series faces the winner of the East Central-South Jones series, which has yet to begin as well, in the Class 5A South State semifinals next week.

Also, PRC is set to travel to Wiggins today at 1 p.m., for the second game in its best-of-three series against Stone County. The Tomcats took game one 4-0 in Carriere Thursday night.

A PRC win would force a third a deciding game, tentatively set for Carriere Monday night. A Tomcat win today would seal the series for Stone County.

The winner of the PRC-Stone series meets the winner of the Pascagoula-West Jones series in the Class 5A South State semifinals next week. That series is set to begin today after two days of delays.

Pascagoula is the defending Class 5A state champion.