No. 7 Indians drop heartbreaker to No. 3 Gulf Coast, 3-2

No. 7 Indians drop heartbreaker to No. 3 Gulf Coast, 3-2
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

ELLISVILLE, MS - For six and a half innings of Friday's Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Softball Tournament, Itawamba Community College had Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College under control.

Freshman second baseman Alex Brown (Pontotoc) ripped a two-out single to score Maura Jane Autry (Holly Springs) in the third and sophomore shortstop Kaitlin Bradley (Columbus) drove in Autry on a single to right to give the No. 7 Indians (39-9) a 2-0 lead in the fifth.

In the bottom of the sixth, the game changed with one swing of the bat by freshman third baseman Izzy Werdann (Pensacola, FL). 

After a pair of strike outs, a pair of walks came back to haunt relief pitcher Carleigh Mills (Corinth) when Werdann snuck a two, two pitcher over the fence in left to give the No. 3 Bulldogs (44-3) a 3-2 advantage.

ICC put the tying run on base twice in the top of the seventh but a runner caught trying to steal and a ground out the shortstop snuffed out the Indians' rally.

Autry went 3-for-3 with three singles and two runs scored in the loss.

Mills (15-3) struck out three and walked two in one inning of work. Kaitlin McDuffy (Iuka) scattered five hits and struck out three with no walks issued in five innings of scoreless work.

The Indians will face No. 10 East Central Community College (42-7) in an elimination game scheduled for 2:00 p.m. after the Warriors dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 5 Jones County Junior College (39-6). The winner will play again at 6:00 p.m. in the semifinal of the state tournament - weather pending. 

Saturday's games will be available at LetsGoICCTV.com/Red.

For more information on ICC softball, follow ICC Athletics on Twitter (@LetsGoICC).