Hand the ball to Luke Reed, sit back and enjoy the results.

 

That’s the comfortable position Mississippi Gulf Coast was in heading to Game 2 looking for a split at Northwest Mississippi on Saturday.

 

The sophomore right-hander from Louisville, Ky., threw his second-second straight MACCC shutout to beat the Rangers 5-0 in Senatobia. Northwest won the opener 3-1.

 

“Luke just really pounded the zone with his fastball,” Gulf Coast coach Bob Keller said. “He was able to use his offspeed to put away hitters tonight. I’m super proud of his effort.”

 

Luke struck out eight in his four-hitter for a third straight complete-game victory. He’s got 15 straight scoreless innings, during which he’s got 21 K’s and five walks.

 

“You have to give credit to Thomas Hollingsworth for calling the game, receiving pitches,” Keller said. “He does a nice job with him.”

 

The Bulldogs scored all five runs with two outs. Sean Smith (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) and Jesse Johnson (So., Purvis/Purvis) had RBI singles in the first inning, and Alex McWhorter (So., Semmes, Ala./Faith Academy) and Smith had bases-loaded walks in the second.

 

Brendan McCauley (So., Gulfport/Harrison Central) had an RBI single in the sixth.

 

Gulf Coast also had only four hits in the second game but took advantage of eight walks.

 

The Bulldogs outhit the Rangers 9-6 in the opener but a fifth-inning solo homer by Kade Carpenter (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave) netted their only run.

 

McCauley had three hits, and McWhorter two.

 

The Bulldogs got a quality start from Matthew DeLano (So., Biloxi/Biloxi), who allowed two earned runs in six innings to take the hard-luck loss. He struck out eight and walked just one.

 

“We’ve got to scratch out a win for him soon,” Keller said. “He really gave us a great effort.”

 

Jesse Johnson (So., Purvis/Purvis) threw the last two scoreless innings, striking out four without a walk. Bulldog pitchers threw 15 innings Saturday and walked only four batters.

 

Gulf Coast is back on the road Wednesday with a trip to play at Hinds. The doubleheader starts at 3 p.m. The games will be streamed at https://hindsccsports.net/channel-1/.

 

For more information on MGCCC’s 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.