SUMMITT – The Southwest Bears picked up their first MACJC South Division win Saturday with a 3-1 win over visiting Mississippi Gulf Coast in the finale of their doubleheader. Gulf Coast took a 3-2 win in the opener.

Southwest (7-11, 1-3) took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the nightcap when Andrew Hulbert reached base with a one-out single to left field. He then stole second and scored when Anthony Durr reached base on a Gulf Coast error.

The Bears extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning Kendrick Hodges scored on Hulbert’s base-loaded single to right. Two batters later, with the bases still loaded and two outs, Durr walked to force Trey Wynn to the plate.

Gulf Coast (10-9, 1-3) scored their only run in the top of the sixth when Jacob Swiney led off with a triple and scored on Adam Cagnina’s ground out.

Brady Badon took the mound in relief of Jason Milton in the top of the second and promptly retired the first two batters. Things then got interesting when he walked the next two batters to put the tying runs on base. But, with a 1-2 count, he induced Swiney to fly out to right run to end the game and pick up his fourth save of the year. “I wasn’t really scared,” Badon said of the situation after the game. “I knew I had a good defense behind me so I was just going to throw strikes.”

Milton pitched surrendered three hits in six innings on the way to picking up the win. He allowed a run and struck out three batters while walking one. Collin Carroll, Logan Ferrell, Austin Knight and Payden Lynch all singled for the Bears.

The Bears were down 3-0 in game one when they scored their only runs in their half of the fifth inning. Patric Devlin was hit by a pitch and Hulbert walked to get things started. Devlin later scored on Durr’s single past second base and Hulbert reached the plate on Carroll’s sacrifice fly.

Jesse Travis gave up five hits and an earned run to take the loss in 6.1 innings on the mound. He struck out three batters while walking four. J. D. Stockstill struck out one and walked one in a brief appearance on the hill.

Cole Guyton had a double for the Bears while Carroll and Tyler Towles also hit safely.

The Bears return to action Tuesday when they host their arch-rival Co-Lin. The South Division doubleheader, scheduled to start at 1:00, serves as the first round of the 9th Annual Coca-Cola Baseball Challenge presented by Powerade.