WESSON – The Co-Lin Lady Wolves struggled from the plate as the No. 3 ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Lady Bulldogs swept a doubleheader from the Lady Wolves 4-2 in game one and 16-4 in the nightcap Tuesday.

Co-Lin (29-12) is currently ranked No. 5 in the MACJC.

MGCCC 4, Co-Lin 2

The Lady Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the top of the second inning as Hannah Melendrez led off the second inning with a solo homerun to left field. Gulf Coast scored another run later in the inning off a hard single to center field as they took a 2-0 lead.

In the third inning, Melendrez homered for a second time, this time a two-run shot that gave the Lady Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Co-Lin’s Dianna Hobgood hit a two-run homerun to the opposite field that cut the Lady Bulldog lead to 4-2. The deep shot plated Kaitlyn Taylor who reached base on a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning. The Lady Wolves were unable to generate anymore runs as Gulf Coast pitching gave up only two hits in the game.

Hobgood led Co-Lin at the plate with a home run for two RBIs. Lauren Brashier was the only other Co-Ln player to get a hit, a double in the top of the sixth inning. The Lady Bulldogs opted to walk Co-Lin’s leading hitter, Jessica Crum, all three of her plate appearances.

Melendrez led Gulf Coast with two home runs and three RBIs. Lexie Mathis doubled twice. Camry Griffith collected a pair of singles. Deborah Elmore added a double. Kelli Berry added support with a single.

Kamry Creel suffered the loss for the Lady Wolves allowing four earned runs on eight hits, striking out four and walking one pitching the complete game.

Nora Keehn picked up the win for Gulf Coast giving up two earned runs on two hits, striking out two and walking three in five innings of work. Kaitlyn Lee earned the save pitching two hitless innings and striking out two.

“Creel tossed a really good game today,” praised Lady Wolves head coach Allen Kent. “We just didn’t string enough hits together when we needed them.”

MGCC 16, Co-Lin 4 (5 innings) 

Nothing seemed to go in Co-Lin’s favor in game two as the Lady Bulldogs pounded out 13 hits and scored 16 runs in game two. Gulf Coast manufactured two runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Kaitlin Lee and Izzy Werdann.

The Lady Bulldogs scored seven runs in the top of the second inning highlighted by Molly Murphy’s grand slam home run that increased the Gulf Coast lead to 9-0.

Things only got worse for the Lady Wolves in the third inning as the Lady Bulldogs would plate eight more runs in the inning. Hannah Melendrez hit her third home run on the day, a three-run shot over the center field wall. Murphy hit her second home run in the game, a two-run home run to put the Lady Bulldogs up 15-0.

The only highlight for the Lady Wolves came in the bottom of the third inning as Gulf Coast decided to pitch to Jessica Crum with the bases loaded. On the first pitch of her at bat, Crum smashed a grand slam over the center field wall to cut the Gulf Coast lead to 15-4. The grand slam was Crum’s 20th homer of the season.

The Lady Bulldogs added one more run in the top of the fifth inning.

Crum led the Lady Wolves at the plate with a home run and a single for four RBIs. Also hitting safely were Mackenzie Byrd, Katie Grace Culpepper, and Kamryn Vanlandingham.

Lexie Mathis led the Lady Bulldogs with three singles, while Murphy’s two homeruns netted her six RBIs. Kaitlyn Lee added a double and a single. Alyssa Hardy and Brittany Cooley doubled. Melendez homered for three RBIs. Adding support with a single apiece were Deborah Elmore, Kelli Berry, and Izzy Werdann.

Trevlynn Scott suffered the loss for Co-Lin giving up six earned runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out one in 1.2 innings. Also seeing action in the circle for the Lady Wolves were Lauren Brashier (eight runs – three earned, three hits, four walks, 1 inning), Kamry Creel (two runs – one earned, three hits, 1.1 inning), and Kaitlyn Taylor (hitless, one innings).

Kaitlyn Lee tossed the win for Gulf Coast giving up four earned runs on four hits in four innings pitched. Kristen Gardner relieved Lee in the fifth inning allowing one run and striking out four.

“Our pitchers just didn’t get it done,” said Lady Wolves head coach Kent. “Gulf Coast played like the No. 3 team in the country today offensively and in the circle. We travel to East Central for the first round of the playoffs so we certainly have our work cut out for us.

On the difficulty of MACJC softball Kent said, “Three of the eight teams in the state tournament are ranked in the top 6 nationally, while ICC is No. 12. It just shows how strong our league is, not to mention the No. 1 ranked LSU Eunice who is in our Region.”