Picayune beats Long Beach 15-2 in Game 1 in South State

Within eighteen hours of beating Wayne County 5-4 in dramatic fashion to advance, Picayune played at Long Beach's Marlin Ladner Field in Game 1 of the South State Championship Series and beat the Bearcats 15-2.

In a scoreless game heading into the third inning, Picayune struck quickly to take the lead. Lexie Picou singled to center and Devin Frierson slapped a single over the third baseman’s head to start the inning. After Jessica Magee struck out, Alyssa Pinero drove a pitch off the fence in left field that scored Picou. Megan Dudenhefer singled to right field, but Frierson was thrown out at home trying to score from second base. Elizabeth Taggard then launched a three-run home run over the centerfield fence to push the score to 4-0.

Picayune added a run in the fifth when Poppy McDonald singled to left field to plate courtesy runner Cameron Carter who was running for Dudenhefer who had walked.

Long Beach cut the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the inning on a single by Malayna Cruz and a double by Faith Peterson, and a sacrifice fly to centerfield for one run. Savannah Bryant drove in the other run with a double.

Picayune put the game away in the top of the sixth sending fourteen batters to the plate, scoring 10 runs on seven hits. Taggard had a single and two RBIs while Magee tripled to plate two runs. Alyssa Pinero hit a ball that appeared to be fair down the left field that would have been a home run, but it was ruled foul. Two pitchers later, she singled to drive in a run.

The Maroon Tide offense pounded out 14 hits. Taggard's five RBIs pushed her season total to 41.

Dudenhefer went the distance in the circle recording 8 strikeouts and allowing 8 hits. She walked only 1 batter and hit 1 batter.

Picayune will host Game 2 at 5:00pm at Kristi Mitchell Field on Monday.