POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The pitching was electric, and the hits were timely for the No. 15 Pearl River softball team Saturday at Wildcat Stadium as PRCC secured a Sophomore Day sweep of No. 16 North Iowa Area. The Wildcats shut out the Trojans 3-0 in the opener and walked them off in the second game 5-4.

"We've been waiting for this. We've been pitching as a staff since the very first game, and today, both of the starters threw really well," head coach Christie Meeks said. "Our offense did a really great job of fighting back for them. They had long, quality at-bats and passed the bat all day long."

GAME ONE
Gracey Harbour (Batesville; South Panola) gave Pearl River (12-7 overall) a momentum boost right from the start of the game as the right-handed pitcher took to the circle and struck out the side against North Iowa Area (3-4). The Wildcat offense rewarded her hot start in the bottom half of the inning. Two of the first four batters reached base and were in scoring position for Anna Kate Rounsaville (Gulfport). Facing a 1-2 count, Rounsaville dunked a ball just between the Trojan second baseman and center fielder for a two-run double, 2-0.

Harbour maintained her incredible form after her hot start, racking up strikeout after strikeout and keeping the Trojans out of the hit column through four innings. Peyton Hoffmayer (Ocean Springs) gave her pitcher an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth. The two-sport star stepped to the plate as the leadoff hitter and sent the first pitch over the wall in right field for a solo home run, 3-0.

NIACC broke up Harbour's no-hitter in the top of the fifth inning, but the right-hander struck out her eighth and ninth batters of the afternoon in the frame. She punched out four more batters on the day to finish off a complete-game effort and give PRCC a 3-0 victory over the 16th-ranked Trojans.

Harbour's final line was seven innings pitched, with two hits, one walk and an incredible 13 strikeouts.

Natalee Eaves (Louisville; Choctaw Central) went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Hoffmayer finished 2-for-3 with a run and a home run.  

GAME TWO
The Wildcats needed some magic in the second game of the afternoon against the Trojans. Starting pitcher Ana-Grace Garcia (Baton Rouge, La.; St. Joseph's) retired six of the first seven batters that walked to the plate to begin the day, but unfortunately for the Wildcats, the Trojans ran into a three-run homer in the third frame, 3-0.

Pearl River's offensive unit left five runners on base throughout the first five innings of the day before finally breaking through in the sixth inning of the afternoon. Team captain Caroline Lindsey (Gulfport) got the frame started with a bang as she doubled. Rounsaville earned a pinch-hit opportunity and made the most of it by sending it the other way and off the wall for an RBI triple, 3-1. Two batters later, Hoffmayer did some damage, sending a single back up the middle to bring PRCC another run closer, 3-2. Caitlyn Riche (Walker, La.) squared things up in the very next at-bat. The second baseman was just late on a pitch and sent it flying off the top of the wall in right field for a game-tying RBI double. Riche crossed the plate on Kai Goodman's (New Orleans, La.; John Curtis) sacrifice fly two pitches later, 4-3. 

"I was telling myself that she wasn't beating me," Riche said of her game-tying RBI triple. "We were going to score right there."

Pearl River had an opportunity to close things out in the seventh, but a leadoff single and an error came back to bite the Wildcats as the Trojans tied the game up 4-4. 

The tie ballgame set PRCC up for some heroics on Sophomore Day in the bottom half of the inning. Lindsey narrowly missed a walk-off home run to begin the frame and settled for a leadoff double instead. A pitch plunked Rounsaville to raise the pressure even higher for the NIACC pitcher and send Maeli Ben (Conehatta; Newton County) to the plate. The freshman was tied up on the very first pitch of her at-bat but had enough strength to get the ball out of the infield and down the left field line. Lindsey was off and running from the crack of the bat and crossed the plate for the game-winning run, securing a sweep with a 5-4 victory in game two.

"Coach K (associate head coach Katelyn Gruich) always gives us the approach," Ben said. "She said that all of the pitches were inside. I knew that was my approach from the start."

Garcia threw a complete game, allowing four runs on two hits and three walks. She struck out 10 batters. 

Lindsey finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two doubles. Hoffmayer and Riche went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Ben finished 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI.

SOPHOMORE DAY
Between games, Pearl River honored its sophomore class. The class consisted of student coach Conner Walker (Sumrall), manager Destiny Jackson (Gulfport), student trainer Hannah Lane (Pascagoula), Rounsaville, Harbour, Alexa Womack (Prairieville, La.; Dutchtown), Hoffmayer, Riche and Lindsey.

NEXT UP
Pearl River returns to action Monday as Kankakee makes the trip to Wildcat Stadium. The doubleheader will get underway at 3 p.m. 

TUNE IN
All home Pearl River baseball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.

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