The Vancleave Bulldogs find themselves with their backs against the wall in the Class 5A state championship series.
Balin Bishop lined a single to right field to score Foster Crockett with the go-ahead run in the 12th inning to lift Lafayette to an 8-7 victory over Vancleave in Game One of the best-of-three series on Wednesday night at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
Game Two is on Friday at 7 p.m. with the Bulldogs needing a win to force a decisive third game on Saturday. The Bulldogs are seeking their first state baseball championship since 2018.
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The series opener was back and forth all night.
In the home half of the second, Max Bates slapped a two-out single to right field to score Kyle Capers and Aidan Tapp as the Bulldogs (27-8) took a 2-0 lead.
The Commodores (28-7) came back in the third to tie the game on an RBI groundout and run-scoring single by Connor Counts.
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Tyler West singled in the bottom of the third and scored on a double to left by Layton Elder to put the Bulldogs on top 3-2.
But again, Lafayette came back to tie the game when Tanner Harris doubled, went to third on a groundout, and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Vancleave regained the lead in the fourth when Tapp singled on a line drive to left and scored on an RBI single by Bates.
Lafayette loaded the bases in the sixth and a walk tied the game at 4-4. A fielder’s choice put the Commodores up 5-4 and Bishop’s two-out RBI single to left put Lafayette up 7-4.
In the seventh, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and Hunter Harper’s base hit. Elder then singled to drive in a run and an error on the play allowed another run to score to cut the deficit to 7-6.
Robert Tinson lifted a sacrifice fly to center to drive in the game-tying run, but a groundout ended the rally and forced extra innings.
Bates paced Vancleave’s 12-hit attack with three hits while Tinson, Parker, and Elder each had two hits.
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Bishop had three hits to lead Lafayette’s 10-hit attack.
Brody Breithaupt was the winning pitcher and Parker took the loss.