Big blasts boost No. 9 Bulldogs

EUNICE, La. — The bats in the middle of the order woke up just in time for No. 9 Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the Bulldogs beat Northwest Mississippi 10-8 Saturday to stay alive in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

Homers by Rakeya Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville), Kristian Jones (Fr., Southaven/DeSoto Central) and K.K. Agner (Fr., Horn Lake/Magnolia Heights) helped earn a berth in a huge game Saturday night that will see the winner clinch a trip to the national tournament.

"That's a big win," Gulf Coast coach Kenneth Long said. "We had a lot of odds against us. It's a credit to our team. We got key hits, we got some home runs, we got some pitching. It's a big win."

The Bulldogs will play the loser of the Jones/Copiah-Lincoln game later in the day. The winner of that game advances to Sunday's championship round to away the final winner of the day.

Gulf Coast (32-13) got behind early, giving up three in the top of the first. Cleanup hitter Rakeya Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville) erased the deficit with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the first.

Northwest (20-18) went back in front with two runs, including a solo homer in the third. Again, Gulf Coast immediately answered.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs and took advantage of a dropped fly ball in right field that cleared the bases and made it 6-5. Another error added another run.

After the Rangers cut it 7-6, the teams started swapping zeros. Hannah Herrington (So., Enterprise/Enterprise) gave the Bulldogs two innings of one-run pitching to get the ball to Anna Avant (So., Water Valley/Water Valley), Thursday's hero in the circle.

She entered with a runner on in the sixth and stranded two, then watched the middle of the Bulldogs order give her lots of insurance.

"I tried to be aggressive right off the bat because she was throwing good pitches early in the count," Jones said. "I wanted to give us some cushion going into that last inning. It felt amazing. Absolutely amazing."

She cranked the first pitch she saw over the left-field wall for a two-run homer, and Agner did likewise two batters later with the bases empty.

"It was amazing," she said. "I'm finally back getting more confidence."

Northwest didn't quit and got two runs back in the seventh, but Avant closed the door for a save.

"I'm really proud of this team," Long said. "We could have easily packed it in this morning, but we didn't do it." 

2021 NJCAA Region 23 Softball Tournament Central: https://athletics.lsue.edu/news/2021/5/8/2021softballregion23.aspx

NJCAA Region 23 Softball Tournament

May 13-16

Eunice, La.

Thursday, May 13

Game 1: (4) Copiah-Lincoln 4, (3) Itawamba 3 (8 inn.)

Game 2: (1) Jones 5, (6) Northwest Mississippi 0

Game 3: (5) Gulf Coast 7, (2) LSU Eunice 6 (10 inn.)

Friday, May 14

Game 4: Northwest 12, LSU Eunice 6 (LSU Eunice eliminated)

Game 5: Jones 2, Itawamba 1, 9 inn. (Itawamba eliminated)

Game 6: Copiah-Lincoln 8, Gulf Coast 1

Saturday, May 15

Game 7: Gulf Coast 10, Northwest 8 (Northwest eliminated)

Game 8: Jones vs. Copiah-Lincoln, 3:00 pm

Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 6:00 pm

Sunday, May 16

Game 10/11: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12:00 pm

(If-Necessary Game Would Be Sunday, 3:00 pm)

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.