CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team fell 6-4 to Shorter University in its Gulf South Conference, home opener on Friday, Feb. 24. MC moves to 3-9 on the season and 1-3 in conference play while the Hawks improve to 7-6 and 3-1 in the league.
 
JT Vance and Alex McWhorter paced the squad at the plate with a pair of hits each as the Choctaw compiled eight in the game. Carson Turner (0-1) took the loss on the mound with two innings in relief. He allowed four runs – three earned – on four hits with three walks and a strikeout.
 
MC got the scoring started early as Caleb Reese hit a scorcher over the left field wall for his fourth home run of the season. The home run marked the 18th for the Choctaw sluggers this season, which is tied for tops in the GSC and top 10 in Division II.
 
Shorter tied the game at 1-all in the second, but the Blue and Gold responded with a run of its own in the home half of the frame as Beau Bates singled into center to plate Jordan Rollins. The Hawks responded with another run in the top of the third, but then followed with two runs in the top of the fourth to take their first lead of the contest at 4-2.
 
MC retaliated and knotted the game at 4-all in the bottom of the fifth as Vance and McWhorter each drove in a run. It marked the second hit of the night for McWhorter. Vance added a double in the seventh for his second hit of the contest, the only other extra-base knock for the Choctaw, but was stranded alongside Rollins for two of nine runners left on base in the game.
 
The deadlock, however, was short lived as the Blue and White regained the lead in the top of the sixth as Thomas Schroeder singled down the left field line to push Tyler McWillie across the dish. SU added an insurance run in the frame as Justin Barnes scored on a Kobe Jones' single, as he finished the game with a team-best four hits.
 
Ethan Hawthorne (1-0) recorded his first win on the mound this season as he tossed two-thirds of an inning in relief with two strikeouts and two hits along with a walk. Trevor Nannney (1) picked up the save going the final four, scoreless frames for the Hawks with three hits allowed, two walks and a strikeout.
 
Ervin Simmons went three innings in his first start in the Blue and Gold. He gave up two runs – one earned – on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Austin Huggins finished the game on the mound with four frames of scoreless baseball as he fanned seven alongside three walks and four hits.
 
The two teams conclude the weekend series on Saturday, Feb. 25 with a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
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