CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team split a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the University of West Georgia. The Choctaws (12-15, 5-13 Gulf South Conference) claimed the opening contest of the twinbill, 6-1, before falling 12-9 in the final affair. UWG improved to 18-10 and 9-9 in the league.
Austin Warkentin and
Blaine Crim each tallied two hits in the opener as Warkentin drove in a team-best two runs.
Samuel Harrison (2-2) notched his second win of the season in a complete game performance – his second of the campaign. The freshman fanned seven and allowed one run – unearned – on six hits.
MC totaled five runs in the second and third innings to take an early 5-0 lead. After the Choctaws plated their first run on a
Hunter Hall sacrifice fly that scored
Colton Caver,
Hunter Bolin followed with a RBI single to plate
Chance Whitten in the second inning.
Warkentin, Crim and Whitten each recorded RBI singles in the third to expand the lead to 5-0. Warkentin gathered his second RBI in the seventh to cap the Navy and Gold's scoring with a sac fly to center field, scoring
Will Elliott.
The Wolves pushed its lone run across the dish in the eighth as Matthew Pope scored on a fielder's choice and error.
In the second contest, the Choctaws and West Georgia stood deadlocked at 4-all through three innings. MC broke the tie with a three-run, fourth frame headlined by Bolin's two-run double down the left field line scoring Hall and
Casey Echols.
Logan Ferrell added a single in the latter half of the inning to score Bolin.
UWG answered with a six-run, home half of the inning. Artemis Kadkhodaian drove in a pair of runs to cap the frame and grab a 10-7 lead. The Wolves added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles from Walker Borneman and Caleb Lopes to extend the deficit to five runs.
The Choctaws attempted a rally late with a run in the sixth and the seventh behind RBI from Crim and Warkentin. Hall led the squad with three hits while Bolin, Ferrell and Echols each recorded two hits. Bolin paced the team with three RBI while Warkentin drove in a pair.
Tommy Taborda (0-4), one of five MC hurlers to toe the rubber, took the loss. The freshman for Popano Beach, Fla., tossed 1.0 innings allowing four runs – two earned – on two hits with a pair of walks.
Mississippi College returns to action on Tuesday, Mar. 29 as it hosts Spring Hill College. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
