EUNICE, La. — Pearl River played in two highly contested games at No. 5 LSU-Eunice on Thursday, falling in Game 1 7-6 and coming from behind to win the nightcap 4-2.

“After Game 1, we asked the girls to stay ahead consistently,” said coach Christie Meeks. “When they put their mind to something, they do it. We are so proud of them for that.”

GAME 1 

Pearl River (19-9 overall) came out of the gate hot in the first contest of the day, pushing three runs across in the first.

McKall Holder (Hurley; East Central) lined a solo home run over the left field wall to put the first run on the board. Four batters later, Sydney Runnels (Seminary; South Jones) lined a ball into left field for a single driving in a run in the process. Erin Daughtery (Vancleave) scored on a wild pitch shortly after.

LSU-Eunice (24-12) cut the deficit to two runs in their half of the inning, scoring on a fielder’s choice to make the score 3-1.

Daughtery continued her recent hot streak blasting a solo shot over the left field wall in the third to extend the lead to 4-1.

The Bengals sliced into the lead in their half of the third on an RBI triple followed by a sacrifice fly making the score 4-3.

LSU-Eunice tied the game in the fifth on a solo homer.

The Wildcats grabbed the lead back in the sixth inning, going ahead 6-4. A Holder single plated the first run and Payton Lee (Picayune; Pearl River Central) scored on an error for the second.

The Bengals grabbed the lead for good in their half of the sixth and went on to win the game 7-6.

Holder, Daughtery, and Runnels tied for the lead in hits with two each. Cassady Bradford (Saucier; West Harrison) walked twice.

Hannah Embry (Vicksburg; Porters Chapel Academy) pitched all six innings and struck out six.

GAME 2

LSU-Eunice scored first in the second game of the day on a groundout to go ahead 1-0.

Pearl River went ahead 3-1 in the third on a Holder two-run triple and a Kaitlyn Passeau (Lucedale; George County) RBI single.

The Bengals loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but reliever Danielle Lalonde (Cecilia, La) struck a batter out and induced a pop out to get the Wildcats out of it.

LSUE had two runners in scoring position in the next inning, but two big punchouts by Lalonde again got PRCC out of trouble.

The Wildcats added an insurance run in the seventh on a Daughtery single to extend the lead to 4-1.

LSU-Eunice scored another run in their half inning, but Pearl River closed the game out to win 4-2.

Holder, Passeau, and Daughtery all had two hits.

Holder finished the doubleheader with four hits.

“Every time she comes up, there is such an ease in everyone because she makes things happen,” said Meeks. “She is just consistently hot right now.”

Madelyn Burch (Franklinton; Bowling Green) started, throwing 3 1/3 innings while allowing just one run on two hits and striking out one.

Lalonde closed out the game earning the win. She pitched 3 2/3 of fantastic relief innings, allowing just one unearned run. She struck out six.

“Wow, Danielle was so composed,” said Meeks. “She just kept doing her thing, and she worked the counts by keeping the batters off guard.”

UP NEXT

The Wildcats will travel to Meridian on Tuesday for a doubleheader. The games will begin at 3 p.m.