POPLARVILLE — The pitching of Hayden Freeman combined with some timely hitting clinched an opening round playoff series win for Poplarville.

Freeman hurled a complete game, striking out seven, as the Hornets beat visiting Magee 2-1 Friday night.

The win, coupled with a 9-5 victory in the series opener Thursday in Magee, moves the Hornets to 16-8 on the season and more importantly pushes Poplarville into the second round of the Class 4A South State baseball playoffs.

Poplarville will open the second round of play on the road against powerful Columbia Thursday night at 6 P.m. The Hornets will host the Wildcats at the same time on Friday, and a third and final game if needed will take place at 6 P.m., Saturdayback in Columbia.

In the deciding win over Magee, the Hornets took a quick lead they would never relinquish in the first frame.

Chandler Ray singled to open the inning, and would later score on an RBI-double by Luke Goodwen.

Freeman helped himself later in the game, adding a run-scoring single to make it 2-0 in the fourth.

The Trojans picked up a run in the fifth, but Freeman shut the visitors down over the last two stanzas to seal the win.

Goodwen had three hits to pace Poplarville at the plate, while Freeman added a pair of hits. Ray, Justin Oliver, Jake Smith and Austin Darden also had hits.