ELLISVILLE – Sixth-ranked Jones College continued its decade-long dominance of Mississippi Gulf Coast on the softball diamond Tuesday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep by 10-2 and 5-4 finals.
The Bobcats improved to 32-7 overall, 11-3 in MACCC play and remain two games back of first.
MGCCC dropped to 19-16, 5-11 in the MACCC.
Jones has won 27 of the previous 31 meetings dating back to the 2016 season.
Jones 10, Gulf Coast 2 (5 inn.)
Jones exploded for six runs in the first and sprinted to a run-rule win, its fifth in seven games.
After Lexi Patterson opened the scoring for Gulf Coast with a solo homer in the top of the first,
Mabry Eason answered with a three-run blast to left-center that put the home team in front.
Jones added three more first-inning runs on a
Reagan Dale RBI-single, a
Laney Little RBI-single and a
Chloe Jenkins sacrifice fly to push the lead to 6-1.
Mary Kimble Price's second-inning RBI and a three-run fifth inning off RBIs from Little, Jenkins and
Claire Andersen, ended it early.
Madison Sawyer (14-1) handled Gulf Coast over five innings, allowing four hits and two runs with five strikeouts to earn the win. She was also 2-for-3 at the plate with a double.
Gulf Coast starter Gabby Smith was battered in the first, recording just one out while yielding six runs. Breyona Tanner finished the game.
Jones 5, Gulf Coast 4
Jones College completed a doubleheader sweep of MGCCC with a comeback victory in the finale.
Eason got Jones rolling with a first-inning solo homer to left-center, her team-leading 16th, and
Marlee Dampeer's second-inning double plated Dale to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.
Gulf Coast answered in the third when Patterson's double cleared the bases for a three-run surge, putting the Bulldogs up 3-2.
Price tied it at 3-3 with a third-inning solo shot, her 13th of the season.
But Baleigh Tullos pushed Gulf Coast back in front, 4-3, with a fourth-inning homer after making a great diving play in the bottom of the third to save a run.
The decisive rally came in the sixth when Little delivered a clutch RBI-double to tie the game and she later crossed the plate on a passed ball for the eventual go-ahead run.
Little finished 3-for-3 with a double and the winning run, while Dampeer chipped in two hits and an RBI. Eason and Price each homered and supplied timely power in the Jones lineup.
Breelyn Cain went the distance for Jones, allowing eight hits and four runs with seven strikeouts to pick up the win (7-4). McKenzie Smith took the loss for Gulf Coast, yielding 10 hits and five runs with five strikeouts.
Jones returns to action on Tuesday, April 7 when Copiah-Lincoln comes to The Bank. Games against Coahoma scheduled for Friday, April 3 have been moved to Thursday, April 9.
