CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team picked up a 5-4 walk-off win the first game of a doubleheader with Spring Hill College on Tuesday afternoon at Frierson Field.
The Choctaws (11-21) would drop the second game of the twin-bill to the Badgers (21-10) by a score of 8-2.
In the opener, junior
Kyle Cumlander had his best outing of the season, scattering eight hits and three earned runs over 6.0 innings with six strikeouts. He left in the 7th inning with a 4-2 lead before SHC was able to tie the game on a two-run double by Alex Jones.
In the bottom of the seventh, junior
Colton Caver led off the frame with a single to left field and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman
Kyle Smith. Junior
Hunter Hall hit a chopper to shortstop that was thrown away, allowing Caver to score the winning run.
After the Badgers grabbed an early lead with a run in the 2nd inning, Caver hit his second home run of the season, a shot over the center field wall, to drive in three runs and give MC a 3-1 advantage.
SHC would cut into the lead with a bases loaded hit-by-pitch in the 5th inning, but Cumlander was able to coax a 5-2-3 double play to end the threat and keep MC with the lead.
Junior
Toler Robinson gave MC some insurance in the bottom of the fifth as he doubled to left-center field, driving in sophomore
Hunter Bolin and extending the lead to 4-2. That would set up the seventh inning drama between the two teams.
Caver led the MC offense, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, including the game-winner. Upton and Hall also finished the game with two hits.
Junior
Tyler Scholl (1-3) got the win for MC, allowing just the two inherited runners to score in the seventh. Andrew Pierson took the loss for SHC, despite allowing an unearned run.
In the second game, the Badgers would jump ahead early with four runs in the first inning, three of which were unearned. Garrett Webb had the big blow with a two-run single.
MC would cut the lead to 4-1 when Hall singled home Bolin in the third, but the Badgers would score one in the fifth and three in the seventh to extend the advantage to 8-1.
Senior
Marty Stringfellow drove in Caver with a two-out single in the seventh, but SHC closed out the win and got the doubleheader split.
Junior
J.C. Heflin led the Choctaws with three hits in the game, while Hall had two and an RBI.
Junior
Wesley Wilkinson (1-1) took the loss for MC, giving up the four runs in the first inning. Senior
Andy Olmsted tossed 3.0 scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts.
Christian Bahlinger (3-0) went 6.0 innings to grab the win for SHC. Roy Moulder led the Badger offense with three hits and three RBI in the contest.
The Choctaws will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Pensacola for a three-game series with West Florida, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 3:00 p.m.