CLINTON, Miss. --- MC baseball fell 9-4 to Southern Arkansas on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Frierson Field-Dickins-Scoper Stadium. MC moves to 7-9 on the season while the Muleriders improve to 10-5.
Will Langston headlined the day for the Choctaws, collecting a pair of solo home runs. The Vestavia Hills, Ala., native placed the Blue and Gold on the board in the bottom of the first, cutting the early deficit to 4-1. He relocated his second homer over the left field fence in the eighth. The freshman is second on the team in home runs behind
Alex Johnson with four.
Ty Murphy and
Cade Gadman joined Langston with multiple hits. It is the second consecutive multi-hit performance for Gadman.
SAU jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning, as Preston Smith singled, stole second, and scored on Wyatt Fielding's double. RBI hits from Michael Herndon and Ddavid Chandler pushed the Muleriders ahead 4-0 before
Will Langston answered with a solo home run to right, making it 4-1 after one. SAU extended its advantage in the fourth on a two-run homer by Fielding to take a 6-1 lead.
MC added a run in the sixth when
Tyler Sanderson singled and advanced on an error to bring
Nick Slonaker home, but SAU responded with solo home runs from Tate Elliott and Smith to make it 8-2. Murphy later stole home in the seventh to trim the deficit, and Langston launched his second homer of the game in the eighth after SAU added another run on a Smith double.
Connor Pittman (1-3) started for MC, pitching 2.1 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits, and striking out one batter. Six hurlers took the bump for the Choctaws in the contest as
Dylan Cope and
Davis Wells combined for the final 1.2 frames of relief work. Cope tossed two-thirds of an inning, leaving the Muleriders off the bases and scoreboard. Wells closed out the final frame, striking out one and allowing just one hit.
Eli Berry (1-0) tossed five innings in relief and secured the victory – the fifth consecutive in the series and his first of the season. He struck out one, allowed four hits along with a walk and one run scored.
MC returns to action on Friday, Feb. 27 as it opens a three-game series against Union. First pitch of the Gulf South Conference series is 3 p.m.
