HATTIESBURG, Miss. – William Carey split its Friday doubleheader at Milton Wheeler Field, defeating IU–Kokomo 7–4 before falling to Missouri Baptist 9–6 in the nightcap.
Game One: Carey 7, IU–Kokomo 4
The Crusaders struck early, loading the bases in the first inning with no outs.
Jayden Mark lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home the opening run, but a double play ended the inning and limited the damage to a single score.
IU–Kokomo responded in the top of the second, capitalizing on a walk and a hit-by-pitch to put two aboard. Back-to-back RBI groundouts from R. Sands and N. Wolf pushed the Cougars ahead 2–1, and a sacrifice fly in the third extended the lead to 3–1.
Carey broke through again in the fourth.
Darion Medley was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and after a sac bunt from
Alan McClean,
Gage Hinnant singled and
DeeJay Booth walked to load the bases.
Tyler Ducksworth delivered an RBI single to right center, and Mark followed with an infield RBI single to tie the game at 3–3.
The momentum continued into the fifth, where another hit-by-pitch to Medley and a walk to Hinnant set the stage for Booth's biggest swing of the night — a two-run triple to right field that put WCU in front 5–3, a lead the Crusaders would not relinquish.
IU–Kokomo threatened late, loading the bases in the sixth and scoring an unearned run in the eighth to pull within 6–4. But Mark provided a crucial answer in the bottom half, launching a solo homer to left to restore a three-run cushion.
From there, the Carey pitching staff shut the door.
Jimmie Johnson and
Caleb Ougel combined to allow just one unearned run on one hit. Ougel struck out six over three innings to earn the win.
Game Two: Missouri Baptist 9, Carey 6
In the second game, Carey fell behind 3–0 before coming to the plate. After an early error and a bunt moved a runner into scoring position, Jayden Orozco delivered an RBI single to left. Later in the inning, Angelo Franco doubled to right-center to drive in two more and build a 3–0 Missouri Baptist lead.
Carey got one run back in the bottom of the first when Hinnant singled and later scored on a line drive to left by Mark. Both offenses went quiet in the second, but the Spartans struck again in the third. A two-run homer by Nick Beech and an RBI single from Jonny Marquez extended the lead to 6–1.
The Crusaders answered immediately with their biggest inning of the night. Booth and Ducksworth went back-to-back with singles, and Mark punched an RBI single to left-center. After
Hays Carley reached to load the bases,
Taylor Walters delivered a towering 393-foot grand slam to right-center to tie the game at 6–6.
However, Missouri Baptist regained control with another unearned run in the fifth, then added two more in the sixth to secure the final margin.
Carey resumes play today with a 3:30 p.m. matchup against IU–Kokomo at Milton Wheeler Field.
