PENSACOLA, Fla. --- The Mississippi College baseball team lost two closely-contested games to the University of West Florida on Friday afternoon at Jim Spooner Field.
The Choctaws (11-23, 3-19 GSC) grabbed an early lead in Game 1 before the Argonauts (21-12, 14-9 GSC) came back for a 5-2 victory.
In the second game, despite an outstanding pitching effort by senior
Brooks Fortenberry and a two-run home run in the seventh inning to tie the game by junior
Caleb Upton, the Argos picked up a 3-2 win.
In the opener, senior
Akiko Thompson gave the Choctaws a 1-0 lead in the first inning, scoring on a groundout by Upton. Thompson led off the game with a single and moved up to third on a double by junior
Colton Caver.
The Argos would tie the game in the second inning, but freshman
Jake Fraze got out of a bases loaded, one-out jam, allowing just one run.
Jimmy Redovian, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, gave UWF a 2-1 advantage with a leadoff home run in the 3rd inning. The Argos would tack on another run to take a 3-1 lead.
The Choctaws would answer back in the fifth as freshman
Kyle Smith singled home junior
J.C. Heflin with a two-out shot up the middle.
The Argonauts would add two more runs in the sixth to give the game its final score.
Fraze had one of his best outings since earlier in the season, holding UWF to just four earned runs over 5.1 innings. Senior
Grady Turman pitched the final 2.2 innings, giving up just one hit over a scoreless outing.
Brandon Nagem struck out eight in 8.0 innings to pick up his fifth win of the season for the Argos.
In the second game, UWF wasted no time getting on the board with two runs in the first inning on back-to-back RBI singles against Fortenberry.
The Magee native would settle down from there, allowing just five hits over the final 6.0 innings. The senior struck out five in the game, giving him 182 for his career, which ranks 4th in school history.
With Fortenberry dealing on the mound, the Choctaw offense was struggling to get going, posting just two hits through 6.0 innings.
In the seventh, however, Caver singled with one out, setting up the game-tying, two-run shot by Upton, his fifth home run of the season.
The Argos were not shaken as Jordan Stark led off the inning with a single and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Alex Greene. After moving up the third on a wild pitch, Stark scored the game-winner on a sacrifice fly by Redovian.
The Choctaws and the Argos will wrap up the series on Saturday with a single nine-inning game at 1:00 p.m.
