MCC Baseball Sweeps Past Mississippi Gulf Coast

From School Reports

PERKINSTON, MS- The Meridian Community College Eagles returned to the diamond for the first time in over a week to continue its current six-game road trip with a stop on Sunday at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The Eagles continued its winning ways on Sunday by sweeping past the Bulldogs by final scores of 8-5 and 4-3.

MCC improved to 28-11 overall for the 2015 season and 16-6 in conference play. The Eagles have also won four straight MACJC games and have now won 10 of its last 12 conference games. MCC will return to the field this Wednesday afternoon to close out its six-game road trip by traveling to Clarksdale, MS to take on Coahoma Community College. The road doubleheader against Coahoma is scheduled for noon.

The Eagles opened up a five-run lead early and held on to take an 8-5 victory over the Bulldogs in Game One on Sunday. Matt Berler led the game off with a double and came around to score moments later on a sacrifice fly by Dalton Thomas to give MCC a 1-0 lead. Goose Yates would follow moments later with an RBI single to give MCC a 2-0 edge going to the bottom of the first innings. Mississippi Gulf Coast would plate a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, but MCC would battle with a run in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead.

Berler led the inning off by reaching on a hit by pitch and later crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Yates to give MCC the slim one-run lead. The Eagles would then follow with a huge four-run fourth inning to build a 7-2 lead over Mississippi Gulf Coast. Michael Druhan led off the inning with a single and Jaylon Keys followed with a double to put a pair of runners on base for MCC. Andrew Crook would step to the plate moments later and drive in one run on a single to extend the MCC lead to 4-2. Berler would follow the RBI single by Crook with a three-run home run to give the Eagles a five-run lead heading to the fifth.

The only other run that crossed the plate in the game for MCC was on an RBI single by Kyle Bayles in the ninth inning.

Former West Lauderdale star Ryan Lane picked up the pitching win in Game One for MCC by allowing three hits, two walks, and finishing with three strikeouts.

MCC completed the sweep in Game Two behind a solid relief appearance from sophomore Bryant Johnston to give the Eagles a 4-3 victory. Johnston was huge down the stretch for the green and white by retiring the final 15 batters he faced. Johnston pitched 4 2/3 innings and allowed no hits, no walks, and collected six strikeouts.

MCC trailed Mississippi Gulf Coast 1-0 after two innings, but Dalton Thomas would change that in the third inning. Thomas connected on a two-run homer in the top of the third inning to give MCC a 2-1 lead. The Bulldogs would fight back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning, but the Eagles would bounce right back. MCC would plate two runs in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run single by Goose Yates that propel the Eagles to the 4-3 victory in Game Two over the Bulldogs.