MGCCC baseball stops Northeast 6-5

Ben Slaton unloads his 13th homer this season against Northeast May 6.

Bulldogs take 1-0 lead in best-of-three series

BILOXI---The odyssey that was game one of the MACJC playoff series between Northeast and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College went in favor of the Bulldogs 7-5.

Getting to that point was a long process as the game, originally set for May 5, was pushed back to May 6 due to wet field conditions in Perkinston from recent heavy rains. More rain Saturday afternoon forced the game to be moved to Biloxi High School and pushed the start time back to 9 p.m. Four hours later, Gulf Coast took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with game two slated for 2 p.m. again at Biloxi with game three to follow if necessary.

The Bulldogs used a five-run third inning to break the game open and got quality relief pitching from Biloxi native Jordan Mata (5-3), who struck out five in three innings to earn the victory. Daniel Wineski notched his seventh save of the season.

Ben Slaton smacked his 13th homer of 2012 to get Gulf Coast on the board in the first inning while Daniel Miles, Dieter Hamilton, and Micheal Gilbert put together three straight RBI singles in the team’s third inning offensive surge. Miles had three hits in the four-hour game while Hamilton and J.C. Cassidy each had two.

Northeast (16-29) took a 3-1 heading into the fifth mainly off an error and seven walks by Gulf Coast starting pitcher Jarred Gates, who also struck out four in three innings of work.

Tyler Bray (7-4) will start game two for the Bulldogs later this afternoon.