CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College baseball team dropped a pair of Gulf South Conference contests as the University of Montevallo closed out the doubleheader with an 8-0 victory in the night cap on Saturday, March 16. MC (12-10, 4-7 GSC) took it on the chin in the opener as the Falcons, who improved to 15-10 and 7-4 in league play, claimed an 8-5 win.
 
The Blue and Gold combined for 11 hits in the twinbill with eight coming in the series lidlifter. Caleb Reese led the way with three hits on the day. The Bossier City, La., native totaled a pair of hits, including his 40th career home run in the fifth inning of the opener, which gave the Choctaws a 3-2 lead.
 
Reese's home run was one of three in the contest for MC as JT Vance gathered his ninth of the season to start the scoring for the squad and force a 2-all stalemate in the bottom of the first. Banks Hyde collected his first of the season in the bottom of the ninth to cap the scoring for the Choctaws. The junior lifted his homer over the leftfield wall to push Bryce LaRocca across the dish. LaRocca finished with a pair of hits with two doubles in the opening contest.
 
UM put together a two-run, seventh inning to rally and take a 4-3 advantage. The Falcons added four in the top of the eighth, headlined by a three-run home run from Brandon Moore. It was one of two in the contest for the Purple and Gold.
 
In the second outing, the Choctaws scraped together three hits, all singles from Reese, Hyde and Korey Cooper. UM gathered all the runs it needed in the second affair with all eight coming in the top of the fifth as it strung together six hits in the frame en route to nine in the game.
 
CJ Lofton (1-2) and Holland Townes (2-2) were saddled with the setbacks on the bump. Lofton allowed four runs on six hits in 6.2 innings in the start. Kyle Collet and Cooper Gadman combined for the final 2.1 frames in relief.
 
Townes fanned eight in the contest, but surrendered eight runs on the nine hits in five complete innings. Carson Turner tossed the final two frames as he struck out one.
 
Logan Samuel (3-2) and Adiel Melendez (2-2) collected the victories on the bump for the Falcons. Samuel pitched a complete game and recorded seven strikeouts. Melendez tossed 6.2 in the start and scattered three runs.
 
Mississippi College looks to salvage the series on Sunday, March 17. First pitch at Noon.
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