EUNICE, La. – For the second time in as many games, Jones needed extra-inning magic to keep its season-long winning streak and postseason dreams alive.
A two-out, two-run double by
Maycee Knight in the seventh and pinch-hit, RBI-single from
Skylar McLellan in the 10th helped No. 2 Jones rally for a 7-5 win over No. 8 Copiah-Lincoln in 10 innings to send the Bobcats into Sunday's regional final.
No. 2 Jones (42-7), winners in 20 consecutive games, will face No. 9 Gulf Coast (33-13) Sunday at noon.
The win also clinched one of the league's two automatic bids into the NJCAA Division II World Series where the Bobcats will make their seventh appearance since 2012.
Scoreless through three innings,
Tia'Rain Saunders' two-out, RBI-single down the left field line scored
Lauren Lindsey to give Jones a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
Co-Lin responded right back with a two-out, two-run home run by Abigail Carter to push in front, 2-1.
A dropped third strike in the sixth helped the Bobcats rally for the tying run.
Meagan Wynne struck out, but reached first on an error, and then Knight followed with an RBI-double to knot the game at 2-2.
After two quick outs in the bottom half of the sixth for the Wolves, an error at short kept the inning alive. Co-Lin made it hurt, with Carlon Brabham hitting a two-run home run to center and Carter smashing a solo home run right behind her to make it 5-2 Wolves.
Down to its final out in the top of the seventh,
Lauren Pope singled to keep the inning alive and an error on the pitcher put the tying run on base. Knight stepped up and delivered for Jones a batter later, smacking the first pitch she saw into left-center to plate a pair and tie the game at 5-5.
Sterling James entered for
Nia Luckett with one out in the eighth, and was untouchable. Literally.
James induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play and proceeded to toss a scoreless ninth.
After back-to-back strikeouts to start the 10th, Saunders' single kept the inning alive. She would advance to second on a bad throw from left. McLellan then came up to hit for
Kat Wallace and came through in the clutch with a two-out, RBI-single down the left field line for the go-ahead run. Wallace would re-enter the game, steal third and score on an error to extend the Bobcat lead to 7-5.
James then sat down the Wolves in order in the 10th to complete the crazy comeback. She improved to 14-1 on the year with 2.2 hitless innings. Luckett went 7.1 and allowed two earned runs with 11 strikeouts.
Cera Blanchard, who threw 195 pitches for Co-Lin, struck out 10. Just two of her seven runs were earned.
Jones out-hit Co-Lin 10-5, with
Tyesha Cole going 3-for-5 and both Knight and Saunders picking up two hits apiece.
The game lasted three hours and five minutes.
