Lady Wildcats earn first sweep of the season

POPLARVILLE, Miss.- The Pearl River Lady Wildcats ended the Wildcat Invitational on a high note Saturday when they swept Baton Rouge Community College. Pearl River earned their first victory in dramatic fashion defeating BRCC 2-1 in the eighth inning. The Lady Wildcats would not need any theatrics for the second game however, thrashing BRCC 9-1 and ending the game in the sixth inning.

Pearl River 2, Baton Rouge 1

Great defense would be the theme of the first matchup between PRCC and BRCC.

The Lady Wildcats would strike first when Alyssa Pinero (Picayune) would knock an RBI single into right field to give PRCC a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning.

BRCC would bounce back however with a massive home run over right field in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game 1-1.

It would take extra innings for the Lady Wildcats to secure the victory when sophomore catcher Mary Grace Turner (Leaksville; Greene County) would launch a solo shot out of right field in the bottom of the eighth to give them their first victory of the day.

Catcher Mary Grace Turner hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat BRCC 2-1 Saturday. (KRISTI HARRIS/PRCC ATHLETICS)

While Turner's home run won the game it was the great fielding and pitching from Pearl River that really set the tone of the evening.

At two points in the game BRCC had two home runs all but hit until Pearl River outfielders Ashley Terwillger (Saucier; Harrison Central) and Hannah Rasberry (Lucedale, Miss; George County) made great plays to rob Baton Rouge of those runs.

"I thought Rylee played a great game pitching today and we defended the ball very well," PRCC coach Leigh White said. "There were probably two that our outfielders took from them that were going over the fence. We struggled at the plate a little bit but we hung in there and MG pulled it out for us."

Pearl River 9, Baton Rouge 1

While the defense was once again spectacular for the Lady Wildcats in the second game of the night, the offense showed up early in the game to close the door on BRCC.

BreAnna Corken (Watson, La.; Live Oak) would get things rolling for Pearl River with a two RBI double in the bottom of the second inning. Corken would then record her team high third RBI with a single in the bottom of the third to extend the PRCC lead to 3-0.

Terwilliger would score Corken with an RBI triple to make the score 4-0. Leadoff hitter Brooke Fagan (Hancock) would help extend the lead with an RBI double increase the lead to 5-0 PRCC.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Jordan Lee (Redwood; Tri-County) and Mary Grace Turner would bat in runs for the Lady Wildcats with an RBI groundout and RBI double respectively.

Neely Mcleod (Lucedale; George County) would end the game for Pearl River with a two RBI double to seal the game 9-0.

While the bats came alive for Pearl River, it was on the mound where the Lady Wildcats stood out.

Pitcher Grace Stringer (Moselle; South Jones) allowed only one hit on the night while striking out four batters.

"Grace got in their and pretty much dominated the entire game, she had a no hitter until the fifth," White said. "Our hitters adjusted to their pitching a little better and early and scored early on, it's just a great team win. We came out with a little bit more fire in this game."

The Lady Wildcats next game will be against Shelton State next Friday when PRCC competes in the Sun Chief Classic.

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