Bulldogs bring in No. 2 ECCC

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast brings the second-ranked team in the country to town Wednesday when East Central visits.

First pitch in the doubleheader at Ken “Curly” Farris Field is set for 3 p.m. Buy your tickets ahead of time to save money. It costs $7 for adults or $5 for youth online, or $10 and $7 at the gate. Tickets are available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets, and the game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.

The Warriors, who won the Region 23 title last year, won their first 31 games of the season.

Records

• MGCCC: 23-11/9-5 MACCC, 6^th place in conference
• East Central: 33-3/9-3 MACCC, 4^th place in conference

Last Time Out

• MGCCC split a doubleheader against East Mississippi in Scooba on Friday, bouncing back from a 6-4 loss to win 11-4.
• East Central split a doubleheader at Northeast Mississippi in Booneville on Friday, winning 10-3 in the opener and losing 3-2 in the second game.

Previous Meeting

On April 4, 2023, Gulf Coast and East Central split a doubleheader at Decatur, with the Bulldogs winning Game 1 13-7 and the Warriors winning the second 3-2.

Notes

• Gulf Coast is sixth in the country in walks (202, 2^nd MACCC) and being hit by pitches (73, 2^nd MACCC), and 15th in doubles (69, 3^rd MACCC). The Bulldogs are 12^th in runs (285) and RBI (250), and 17^th in extra-base hits (107).
• Marc Stephens (So., Orange Beach, Ala./Gulf Shores), who has a 26-game hitting streak, is second in the country with 60 hits. He’s 12^th in hitting (.484, 1^st MACCC) and 11^th in on-base percentage (.582, 1^st MACCC). He’s fifth in the NJCAA in hitting among players with 90-plus at-bats and fourth in on-base percentage. Stephens is third in the MACCC in runs (42), 10^th in totals bases (75), hit by pitches (10).
• Brandon Cain (So., Mobile, Ala./Baker) is 10^th in the country in triples (4, 3^rd MACCC)
• Dom Jackson (Fr., Gulf Breeze, Fla./Gulf Breeze) is eighth in the NJCAA with 10 home runs (2^nd MACCC) and 17^th with 47 RBI (4^th MACCC). He’s second in the MACCC in slugging (.771) and sixth with 11 doubles.
• Blake King (So., Petal/Petal) is 19^th in the NJCAA in innings pitched (46.0, 7^th MACCC).
• Kaden Irving (Fr., Gautier/Gautier) is 10^th in the MACCC with 10 doubles.
• Charlie Keller (So., Mobile, Ala./Mobile Christian) is second in the league in on-base percentage (.564) and sixth in HBP (11).

Three Ahead

• Saturday, April 6: at Coahoma, Clarkdale, 1 p.m. doubleheader
• Tuesday, April 9: vs. Pearl River, Perkinston, 3 p.m. doubleheader
• Wednesday, April 17: at Hinds, Raymond, 3 p.m. doubleheader

For more information on MGCCC’s 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.