MONTEVALLO, Ala. --- The Mississippi College baseball team split its twinbill at Montevallo on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Choctaws took an 8-6 victory in the opening game of the day and fell 10-9 in the finale as the Falcons walked it off. MC moved to 7-5 on the season and 3-3 in Gulf South Conference play.
 
In the opener, the Blue and Gold trailed by five runs through five frames, but rallied with three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to draw even. Jordan Evans placed the Choctaws on the board with a solo home run as Korey Cooper followed with a two-run single to pull within two runs.
 
A pair of RBI singles from Evans and Bryce LaRocca in the seventh erased the deficit and set up the possibility for another come-from-behind victory for the Blue and Gold.
 
Evans connected on his second solo home run of the game, giving MC its first lead of the weekend and Cooper followed with a two-run homer to right field to place the visitors from the Magnolia State up by three runs. UM attempted a rally with a solo home run of its own in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't overcome the late game heroics.
 
Evans and Cooper led the way with three hits each followed by LaRocca with a pair of hits. Cooper paced the squad with four RBI while Evans added three.
 
Like the first game, MC used the long ball as all nine runs came via a home run. Logan Shurden and LaRocca drove in all five runs in the first inning. Shurden got the scoring started with a two-run home run as LaRocca followed with a three-run home run.
 
After UM answered with three runs in the home half of the second and applied two more in the third to knot the game at 5-all, MC responded in the fourth with a three-run home run from Evans, his third of the day, and a solo homer from LaRocca – his second of the contest – to take a 9-5 advantage.
 
The four-run lead stood until the bottom of the fifth as the Purple and Gold began to chip away. They plated one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to tie the contest once more. After the Choctaws went down in order in the top of the seventh, Conner Crowson led off the inning and closed the game with a solo home run to right field – the only homer of the game for the team and its second of the doubleheader.
 
LaRocca finished the game with three hits and drove in four. Evans finished with three RBI with Shurden adding a two RBI effort in the setback.
 
Coby Gollott (2-2) struck out three, allowing one run on two hits in 1.2 innings in relief in the opener, picking up the win on the mound. He tossed just one-third of an inning in the second game, allowing one run on two hits to receive the loss.
 
Mississippi College returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 25 as it hosts Southern Arkansas University. First pitch from Frierson Field is 2 p.m.