CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team improved to 4-2 on the season as it recorded a doubleheader sweep over Miles College on Friday, Feb. 9 at Frierson Field at Dickins-Scoper Stadium. MC blanked in the Golden Bears in the opening game of the three-game series, 6-0, and then pounded out 21 runs en route to a 16-run victory in the night cap.
 
The shutout in the opener is the first for the program since April 14, 2022 against Montevallo, when the Blue and Gold topped the Falcons, 3-0. The 21 runs in the second game of the series are the most in 367 days as the Choctaws rolled out 23 over Miles on Feb. 7, 2023. MC totaled 24 hits over the course of the twinbill, including 17 in the second game – the most for the program since it totaled 15 last season against Delta State.
 
Holland Townes (1-0) and CJ Lofton (1-0) each logged their first win of the season. Townes with 7.1 innings in the start and fanned seven while allowing just five base runners in the game, including three hits. Lofton went four frames with five strikeouts and surrendered three runs on five hits with a pair of walks.
 
JT Vance led the way at the plate with a pair of multiple-hit efforts. The Union, Miss., native recorded a pair of hits in the opening contest, which tied for tops on the team with Luis Alcantara. Vance tallied three hits in the second outing and totaled seven RBI
 
Vance's three-hit effort in the backend of the twinbill was one of four for the Choctaws during the game. Cole Drake registered three hits and drove in six while Wesley Sides also added three hits with two RBI. Tyler Jacobsen rounded out the quartet with three hits.
 
Korey Cooper logged a pair of hits to join the multi-hit performances in the night cap and garnered an RBI while Blaise Breerwood had two hits. The Poplarville, Miss., product added a multi-RBI effort in the opening game.
 
The Choctaws waited until the third inning in the first game to strike the scoreboard, but put distance between themselves and Miles in the sixth as Cole Drake lifted a solo home run left field for the first run of the game. Blaise Breerwood notched a pair of RBI later in the frame with a double up the middle.
 
The final run of the game came the following inning as JT Vance recorded the second home run of the game with a solo of his own to right field.
 
In the second game, the Golden Bears scored the first three runs of the game during their first two trips to the plate. Vance got the Blue and Gold on the board with an RBI double up the middle in the bottom of the second. The run sparked 12 unanswered runs as the Choctaws posted four runs in the third and followed with a seven spot in the fourth.
 
Sides drove in half of the runs of the third inning with a double down the left field line that scored Vance and Caleb Reese. Reese followed with a two-RBI single to right field in the fourth to expand the margin to 7-3. Vance then cleared the bases later in the inning with a three-run home run to center and give the Choctaws a 10-3 advantage.
 
After Miles added two runs in the fifth, Drake regained the nine-run deficit in the home half of the inning with a single through the right side. Vance notched his second, three-RBI hit of the game in the sixth with a double to right field.
 
Mississippi College and Miles College are scheduled to close out the series on Saturday, Feb. 10 with a single game. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
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