PERKINSTON — A perfect day at the plate for Kate Brannan, combined with stellar pitching and defense, helped spark Mississippi Gulf Coast to a sweep of Holmes at Ross-Smith Field on Thursday.

 

Brannan (So., Enterprise/Enterprise) went 5-for-5 in the doubleheader, which Gulf Coast won 10-3 and 5-2. Jett Harrell (Fr., Clarksdale/Lee Academy) and Kylie Burnette (Fr., Picayune/Picayune) picked up the wins, and Kennedy Brown (So., Southaven/Northpoint Christian) grabbed her fourth save.

 

“It was two great starting pitching performances by Jett and Kylie,” Gulf Coast coach David Kuhn said. “And once again, Kennedy Brown came in and shut the door for another save. We played solid defense all the way around today. It was huge because we don’t get a lot of strikeouts, so we have to play defense.”

 

Gulf Coast improved to 23-13 overall and 6-4 in MACCC play. The Bulldogs get some extra time off over the weekend on the school’s spring break. They’ll play at Jones next Wednesday.

 

Brannan’s first hit was a bases-clearing double in the second inning which put Gulf Coast on top 3-1. She drove a ball in the left-center field gap, then scored on a groundout by Jorja Roberson (Fr., Branyan/East Union).

 

Brannan, batting ninth in the lineup, got her fourth RBI with a single in the third, and an error on the play let another Bulldog score to make it 7-2.

 

“She had a great day at the plate,” Kuhn said. “She had some really good at-bats and scored a lot of runs. She flipped the lineup.”

 

That would be more than enough for Harrell, who improved to 10-4. She gave up six hits in a complete game, striking out three and walking one.

 

Burnette pitched five strong innings in the second game, allowing seven hits and a walk. She got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth by getting a ground ball to force a runner at home, a foul out and a fly out.

 

After giving up two runs in the sixth, she yielded to Brown who pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts.

 

Kamryn LaFosse (Fr., Lake Charles, La./Sam Houston) started the scoring in Game 2 with an RBI single. She’d finish with two hits. Olivia Plummer (So., Gulfport/Gulfport) also had two hits and an RBI, while Brannan went 3-for-3 with another RBI.

 

Holmes is now 17-11, 5-5.

 

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