Bulldogs beat Bears twice in Summit

It was an adventure, but Mississippi Gulf Coast left Summit on Wednesday with a much-needed road MACCC sweep.

The Bulldogs got great pitching to start and end the day and swung the bats well to beat Southwest Mississippi 7-0 and 15-11. Karley Rouse threw a four-hitter in the opener, and Brooklyn Peterson threw three scoreless innings to close out the second.

"It was two good wins," Gulf Coast coach David Kuhn said. "We'll take it."

Gulf Coast (26-13, 7-7 MACCC) broke a four-game losing streak, and the Bulldogs will try to extend the win streak Thursday. Their doubleheader against Mississippi Delta at Ross-Smith Field has been moved up from the weekend because of the weather forecast. First pitch will be a 2 p.m.

Buy your tickets ahead of time to save money. It costs $7 for adults or $5 for youth online, or $10 and $7 at the gate. Tickets are available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets, and the game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.

Rouse (So., D'Iberville/D'Iberville) consistently baffled the Bears, striking out four.

"She just got ahead and stayed ahead and threw a lot of strikes," Kuhn said. "She filled up the zone, and we played good defense behind her."

Abby Lindsey (Fr., Decatur, Ala./Austin) opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI single, and the Bulldogs got another on an error. Brooklyn Mitchell (Fr., Gulfport/St. Patrick) made it 3-0 with a two-out RBI groundout.

Emma Thomson (So., Sulphur, La./Sulphur) drove in a run in the sixth, and Aleah Beaugez (So., D'Iberville/D'Iberville) made it 7-0 in the seventh.

Thomson was the only Bulldog with two hits, and they took advantage of four Bears errors.

In the second game, Gulf Coast exploded for nine runs in the first inning and tacked on two more in the third for an 11-1 lead. Instead of cruising to a run-rule victory, the Bulldogs gave up eight in the bottom of the third.

Southwest (11-21, 5-9) tied it at 11 in the fifth, with Peterson (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) getting Gulf Coast out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam and allowing only one inherited runner to score.

Irina Sanford (So., Lucedale/George County) led off the sixth with an infield single. After a bunt single and a sacrifice, Baleigh Tullos (Fr., Hurley/East Central) hit a ground ball to the second baseman. She got Sanford in a rundown between third and home, and the Bears threw high to third. All three runners scored, and Gulf Coast added an insurance run in the seventh.

Mitchell drove in three runs with two hits, and Tullos added a double and a single. Lindsey and Wilbanks doubled twice, and Sanford had two hits.

Peterson allowed just one hit to pick up the win, striking out one. She was the fourth pitcher Kuhn turned to in the game.

"That's why you have a bunch of pitchers," he said. "They just came together and found a way to get it done."

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