CLEVELAND, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team dropped its doubleheader on Saturday, April 9 at 25th-ranked Delta State University. The Statesmen (22-10, 14-5 Gulf South Conference) topped the Choctaws (12-24, 6-14 GSC) 6-4 in the opening game of the series and held on for a 3-2 victory in the night cap.
 
For the second straight game the Navy and Gold struck first with a run in the top of the second, but DSU answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning as Kirkland Trahan tied the contest with a solo home run and Dalton Cummins added an RBI-single to give the Green and White the lead. Hayden Cooper tacked on the final run for the Statesmen in the third.
 
Tristan Tigrett drove in Markarius Lee for the first run of game. Lance Wade drew the visitors a run closer in the fifth with an RBI-double to left that score Brooks Italiano. MC totaled six hits in the game as it out-hit the Statesmen for the second consecutive game.
 
Joseph Cuomo (2-6) was saddled with the loss on the mound as he allowed three runs on five hits in the complete-game performance – his second of the season. He struck out three and allowed just one walk in the effort.
 
Lee and CJ Berry paced the Choctaws at the dish in the affair as they each collected a pair of hits.
 
MC jumped on the board early in the opening game of the series as it plated three runs in its first trip to the plate, but managed just one run the remainder of the way. Caleb Reese provided the biggest pop of the game for the Navy and Gold with a two-run home run in the first inning. Lane Willis got the scoring started as he crossed the dish on a Lance Wade single following his lead-off triple. Daries Boyd capped the scoring for the Choctaws in the top of the eighth as he scampered across the plate on a wild pitch.
 
The Choctaws out-hit their neighbors to the northwest, 14-9, including a four-hit performance from Willis. Markarius Lee totaled three hits while Reese and Jackson Breedlove joined the multiple-hit efforts with a pair each while Reese drove in two. MC totaled a season-high 14 hits in the contest.
 
DSU took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth as Hayden White delivered an RBI-single to score Carson Clowers for the third run of the frame. The Green and White plated two more in the sixth headlined by Dalton Cummins' solo home run to left center – his second in the game. His first tied the contest at 3-all in the fourth.
 
Jackson Bridges (3-4) took the loss on the bump as he allowed six runs – five earned – on eight hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out six – one shy of his season-high. Bryce Lewis and Brandon Gardner saw action out of the bullpen with an inning-plus of action. The duo combined to allow just one hit over the final two-plus frames.
 
Mississippi College and Delta State conclude the weekend series on Sunday, April 10. First pitch at Ferriss Field is 1 p.m.
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