LIVINGSTON, Ala. --- The Mississippi College baseball team dropped a non-conference doubleheader at the University of West Alabama on Monday, Feb. 22. The Tigers (3-3) rallied in the seventh to take the opening game 6-5 and used a five-run, sixth to complete the twinbill sweep 11-7 in the night cap.
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Mississippi College (0-6) had three different players hit home runs in the double dip as
Casey Page,
Dakota Kennedy and
Alex Hay each garnered their first home runs of the season.
Ken Scott finished the day with three hits as he logged a multiple hit effort in the second game, going 2-for-3 from the plate.
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Kennedy and
Lane Willis each had a multi-RBI game. Kennedy drove in four in the first contest while Willis pushed two across the dish in the second game.
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Truitt Smith took the loss in the opening game of the doubleheader. He allowed two runs – both earned – on one hit as he gave up a walk in his relief appearance.
Bryce Lewis was saddled with the setback on the bump in the second game. Lewis gave up five runs – two earned – on six hits with a walk and eight strikeouts in four innings.
GAME 1: Mississippi College 5 | West Alabama 6
DATE: Monday, Feb. 22, 2021
LOCATION: Livingston, Ala. | Tartt Field
RECORDS: Choctaws 0-5 | Tigers 2-3
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HOW IT HAPPENED
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Casey Page evened the score at 1-all in the top of the third with a solo home run – his first of the season. UWA struck first as Jake Nemith scored on a bases loaded walk in the first inning
- The Red and White added three runs in the third, headlined by a two-run home run by Gavin Rogers, as it extended its lead to 3-1.
- Mississippi College took its first lead of the game, 5-4, as
Dakota Kennedy hit a grand slam in the fourth as he plated
Alex Hay,
Dylan Duplechain and
George Farid.
- The Choctaws held the one-run advantage until the seventh when West Alabama scored two runs in the home half of the frame. Colden Peeples tied the contest at 5-all when he scored on a passed ball and Houston Kitterman scored the go-ahead and eventual winning run with a RBI-single that plated Brayden Lyman.
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ON THE MOUND
- Four Choctaws took the mound in the contest as
Payton Russell, Smith and
Jackson Smith each saw action in relief of starter
Jackson Bridges. Bridges tossed 2.1 innings in the start as he allowed four runs – all earned – on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
- Smith and Russell combined for 5.2 innings of scoreless work. Russell fanned six in his 3.2 frames and allowed just one hit and a walk. Smith gave up a hit, walk and struck out one.
- Mason Hollander (1-0) picked up the win on the mound for the Tigers with 3.2 innings in relief as he allowed one hit, struck out four and walked four. JP Elkins (1) got the save with 1.1 frames to close out the game as he struck out three without allowing a hit or run in relief.
GAME 2: Mississippi College 7 | West Alabama 11
DATE: Monday, Feb. 22, 2021
LOCATION: Livingston, Ala. | Tartt Field
RECORDS: Choctaws 0-6 | Tigers 3-3
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the first time this season, the Choctaws scored in their first at-bat as they scored a pair of runs. Duplechain scored on a ground out for the first run of the game and
Caleb Reese drove in Scott to place the Navy and Gold up 2-0.
- West Alabama cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first, but MC regained its two-run lead in the top of the second as
CJ Berry scored on a passed ball.
- After the Tigers knotted the contest at 3-all in the fourth, the Choctaws once again regained the lead, 4-3, in the fifth as Kennedy stole third and scored on an error by the UWA catcher. However, the Tigers took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth at 6-4.
- Hay pulled Mississippi College back within a run in the sixth with a solo home run, but the Tigers responded with five runs in the bottom half of the sixth to extend their lead to 11-5.
- The Choctaws attempted a rally in the top of the seventh, but managed only a pair of runs as
Lane Willis drove in Duplechain and Kennedy with a single.
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ON THE MOUND
- Five Choctaws saw the hill in the second game as
Lance Wade,
Brooks Warren,
Jared Barnes and
Daniel Shelton all saw relief work. Wade pitched one inning while Warren, Barnes and Shelton combined for the final inning of work. The relievers combined for six runs allowed – five earned – on three hits with five walks and a strikeout.
- Rogers took the win on the mound for the Tigers with 2.0 frames of work in relief as he allowed two runs – one earned – on two hits with a walk and strikeouts.
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INSIDE THE BOXES
- West Alabama has now won the last three games in the series.
- Kennedy's grand slam is the first for a Choctaw since Blaine Crim's at West Alabama on April 20, 2019.
- Page's home run was his first since March 6, 2020 at Shorter.
- Hay's home run is his first as a Choctaw and his first since March 10, 2020 against Lipscomb during his time at Austin Peay State University.
- Lewis' eight strikeouts are the first five-plus strikeout performance since
Luke Files' effort at Shorter on March 6, 2020.
NEXT UP
Mississippi College hosts Miles College this weekend in a non-conference, three-game series.
