Bulldogs get another split
Published 8:52 am Monday, January 25, 2021
Rakeya Travis hit another home run, and Alyssia Little came off the bench to provide two extra-base hits to lead No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast to an 11-6 win over Lamar State College-Port Arthur in the first game Saturday at the Younsgville Invitational.
The Bulldogs got beaten 9-0 in five innings in the second game against Northwest Florida State to finish their first weekend of play in Louisiana 2-2.
Gulf Coast filled up the box score in the first game.
“We played a lot of people and nearly everybody on the team got an at-bat,” Gulf Coast coach Eric Neel said. “We swung the bat well. Katie Mitchell pitched well and had a commanding lead when she came out.”
Little entered game after Kristian Jones (Fr., Southaven/DeSoto Central) had an RBI groundout in the third to give MGCCC a 3-2 lead. She tripled, and Katie Mitchell (So., McCool/Kosciusko) drove her in with a single.
Travis had a two-run homer in the next inning for a 6-2 lead. Abby Vance (Fr., Calhoun City/Calhoun City) had an RBI single in the sixth before Little’s RBI double.
Alexis Laughlin (So., Hurley/East Central) and Travis delivered back-to-back RBI doubles in the seventh, with Emaleigh Coates ending the Gulf Coast scoring with a sac fly.
Hannah Herrington (So., Enterprise/Enterprise) drove in a run in the first with a groundout, and Laughlin’s bases-loaded walk in the second tied the score at 2.
“The second game, we got exposed,” Neel said. “We found that we’ve got some weaknesses that need to be addressed and fixed. It’s OK for us to get humbled like that.”
Travis walked twice and got hit by a pitch in her three plate appearance in the second game. Camryn Miller (Fr., Waynesboro/Wayne County) has the Bulldogs’ lone hit.
Gulf Coast returns to action against the same NWFS team Feb. 2. The first games at Perk in 2021 will begin at 2 p.m. Home games will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/stream.
“We’ve got to get better in the circle, and we’ve got to get better defensively at almost every position,” Neel said. “That’s our issue right now.”
For more information on MGCCC’s 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.