No. 15 Softball splits conference opener

No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast split its MACCC softball opener Friday at Raymond, beating Hinds 4-1 before dropping a 6-3 nightcap.

Savannah Wilbanks (So., Southaven/DeSoto Central) started her red-hot day with an RBI single in the first inning of the first game. Emma Thomson (So., Sulphur, La./Sulphur) made it 2-0 with a second-inning RBI single, and Madison Laiche (Fr., Luling, La./John Curtis) drove in another run with a fielder's choice in the third.

Baleigh Tullos (Fr., Hurley/East Central) doubled in the last Gulf Coast run, providing Karley Rouse (So., D'Iberville/D'Iberville) more than enough run support. She pitched five-plus innings, allowing five hits and one run. Olivia Falcon (So., St. Amant, La./St. Amant) got the save by striking out five in two innings.

Wilbanks had three hits, including a double, and Tullos had two doubles. Annaston Tate (Fr., Waynesboro/Wayne County) also doubled.

The Bulldogs (18-7) fell behind 4-0 in the first inning of the second game. Thomson had a three-run homer in the fourth, and the Bulldogs put three more runners on in that inning with nobody out. A lineout double play and fly ball ended the threat, and Hinds (8-9) added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth.

Gulf Coast hosts Itawamba on Tuesday. The first MACCC doubleheader this season at Ross-Smith Field starts at 2 p.m.

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