POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 5 Pearl River baseball team used two huge frames in each game of its doubleheader against Coastal Alabama – South to earn a sweep. PRCC won game one 9-2 and secured a 9-1 game two victory.
"It doesn't always go the way you draw it up, but we got a lot of pitchers some work today. We had some guys that really needed to throw," head coach Michael Avalon said. "Today was a good day. We got a lot of guys going offensively and scored a lot of early runs."
GAME ONE
Pearl River (12-2 overall) had its best first inning of the year in the first game of the day, plating six runs to begin the day. Not only did the Wildcat offense explode, but it also did all the damage with two outs. Jacob Keys (Brandon) sent a 1-0 pitch deep over the wall in left field for his third home run of the year for the first two runs of the frame, 2-0. Keegan Giger (Petal) drove in a run with an RBI double and came around to score on Hank Eaton's (Corinth; Kossuth) RBI double. Kyler King (Picayune) kept the rally going, singling to center for an RBI, 6-0.
Two more Wildcat runs scored in the second. The first crossed on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Topher Jones (Hernando), and the second scored when the throw into the infield got away, 8-0.
Coastal Alabama – South (3-11) hit back-to-back home runs to open the third inning, cutting its deficit down to 8-2. Pearl River tacked on its final run of the game in the fifth inning. Giger led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a Tyrese Johnson (West Point) sacrifice fly, 9-2.
PRCC pitchers settled down the rest of the way to keep the Coyotes from adding any additional runs.
KK Clark (Brandon) threw a predetermined one inning to earn the win. He struck out two and walked one. Patrick Spencer Jr. (Greenville; Washington School) allowed two runs on four hits in three innings of work. He struck out four. Drew Harrison (Madison; Germantown) was lights-out, tossing four scoreless innings. He scattered four hits and struck out five. Logan Fontenelle (Biloxi) pitched the final inning, giving up just one hit.
Keys finished 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs. Giger went 2-for-4 with two runs, two doubles and an RBI.
GAME TWO
The Wildcats went quietly to start the second game but exploded for seven runs in the second inning. With the bases loaded, Giger was plunked by a pitch, Logan Terry (Semmes, Ala.; East Central) drew a walk and a wild pitch scored three runs. Jaxon Milam (Phenix City, Ala.; Glenwood Academy) then chopped a ball down to third base that the third baseman fielded with success. He thought the ball was foul and didn't throw across the diamond, allowing a run to score. A wild pitch allowed the fifth run to score, and Jackson Hood (Madison; Germantown) added PRCC's sixth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly, 6-0. Before the inning closed, Caston Thompson (Jayess; Brookhaven Academy) bashed his longest home run of the year. The Nicholls State signee sent a ball over the wall in right field that took one big hop and hit off the dorms beyond the field, 7-0.
The Coyotes got a run back in the third, cashing in on a leadoff double, 7-1. Terry's RBI single in the bottom half of the frame matched the run and made the score 8-1.
PRCC's final run of the day came in the fifth inning as a Giger groundout did the trick, allowing Keys to score from third, 9-1. The Wildcats held on to win by the same scoreline.
Jacob Johnson (Carriere; Pearl River Central) earned the win in game two, throwing four innings and allowing one run. He gave up four hits and one walk, striking out five. Camden Clark (Laurel; West Jones) allowed one hit in two innings of relief. He punched out three. Peyton Lacy (Pass Christian) threw the final inning of the night and struck out one batter.
Jones was PRCC's only batter with two hits in game two. He wrapped up the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Terry and Johnson each drove in two runs.
NEXT UP
PRCC heads to Perkinston on Wednesday for a rivalry round-robin against Jones College and Gulf Coast. First pitch is at 2 p.m.
The games will be livestreamed or can be heard on WRJWRadio.com.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
