CLINTON, Miss. --- Mississippi College defeated Henderson State 8-7 on Tuesday afternoon in 11 innings, winning in a walk-off fashion.
With both offenses struggling to get going in the first two innings, it was the Reddies who struck the board first in the top of the third inning. With two runners on, Luke Farrar singled for the first run to come across in the ball game as the Reddies went for five hits and runs in the third to control the game early.
In the bottom of the same inning,
Luis Alcantara singled up the middle before MC collected two quick outs. However, after a
Caleb Reese double, J.T. Vance single, and
Wesley Sides double, the Choctaws made it 5-3 going into the middle innings.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Vance sent a shot over the left-center fence to score both him and
Cole Drake for the game to be tied up at five. Both teams threw jabs in the sixth inning as the Reddies notched a run from a Kaden Argenbright RBI single before MC responded in the bottom half with a
Banks Hyde sacrifice fly.
The two squads combined to strand six runners in the final third of the nine innings, as fans were treated to free baseball at Frierson Field. In the top of the tenth, HSU's Cal Jones hit a homer deep into right field to put the Reddies up by one, 7-6.
In the bottom half of the inning with one out,
Tyler Jacobsen was hit by a pitch and Alcantara walked to put two runners aboard for MC. On a full count pitch, Hyde singled through the infield to tie the ball game and gave the second baseman his first hit as a Choctaw. However, MC would go on to strand the two runners.
In the 11th,
Lane Little retired the first two batters he faced with a strikeout before walking the following two. Those walks would not come back to hurt Little as the Choctaws had a chance to win it in the bottom half of the inning.
In the bottom half of the 11th inning, on a 1-2 pitch, Vance sent a no-doubter over the left-center wall to walk it off for the Choctaws, as they defeated the Reddies 8-7. For the Blue and Gold, it was the first win in extra innings since April 18, 2021, against Auburn Montgomery.
Mississippi College (12-8, 4-5 GSC) next takes the field on Friday, March 15th, to start a GSC series against Montevallo. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT at Frierson Field.
