No. 12 MGCCC sweeps No. 16 NIACC

PERKINSTON — Madison Laiche's sterling pitching effort was topped by her even bigger at-bat, when the Mississippi Gulf Coast two-way player delivered a walk-off single in the ninth to beat North Iowa Area 2-1 at Ross-Smith Field.

It closed out a sweep in the No. 12 Bulldogs' first games since jumping into the NJCAA poll. They beat the No. 16 Trojans 5-2 in the first game.

"Anytime you sweep at home, especially against a really good team, that's awesome," Gulf Coast coach David Kuhn said. "We got good pitching performances from Carley (Rouse), Madison and Bird (Olivia Falcon). That's a 1-2-3 punch."

Laiche (Fr., Luling, La./John Curtis) allowed just three hits in seven innings, striking out four. She allowed just one unearned run. She gave way in extra innings to Olivia Falcon (So., St. Amant, La./St. Amant), who struck out two in two hitless innings.

Kinsey Cochran (Fr., Hurley/East Central) led off the ninth with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt and a lineout, Annaston Tate (Fr., Waynesboro/Wayne County) walked to bring up Laiche.

She lined a ball that the diving NIACC left fielder couldn't come up with, and Cochran streaked home.

Laiche didn't mind that Falcon got the win.

"She did great," she said. "It's good to have a deep pitching staff. She threw her butt off."

Laiche, Tate and Brooklyn Mitchell (Fr., Gulfport/St. Patrick) had two hits each. The Bulldogs had 10 hits and walked four times but couldn't get anybody across the plate other than Tate's RBI single in the fifth.

"We left a small village on the bases," Kuhn said. "That's a credit to their pitching staff. They got some big strikeouts and made some good plays."

Rouse (So., D'Iberville/D'Iberville) threw a four-hitter in the opener. She struck out five, and three walks didn't hurt her too badly. 

"I don't think she had her best stuff," Kuhn said. "The umpire had a tight zone, but I thought it was good. She had to adjust. She competed, battled and didn't give up. She got better as the game went on. That's true pitching, when you don't have your best stuff."

Savannah Wilbanks (So., Southaven/DeSoto Central) had a two-run triple in the third to give Gulf Coast a 3-2 lead. Tate singled in a run later in the inning, and Aleah Beaugez (So., D'Iberville/D'Iberville) added to the rally with an RBI groundout.

Emma Thomson (So., Sulphur, La./Sulphur) had an RBI groundout in the second. Cochran was the only Bulldog with two hits, and Beaugez also tripled.

Gulf Coast will be back at Perk on Sunday to play a doubleheader against Kankakee. First pitch is set for noon. Buy your tickets ahead of time to save money. It costs $7 for adults or $5 for youth online, or $10 and $7 at the gate. Tickets are available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets, and the game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.

The Perkinston Bookstore will open at 11:30 a.m. for fans to shop the full inventory.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.