POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Pearl River softball erupted for 24 runs over a two-game sweep of Chipola College, winning game one 14-0 in five innings and game two 10-6.
"This team feeds off of each other," head coach Christie Meeks said. "In the second game, we gave up three runs and knew that our offense was going to come back the way it did. There's so much confidence in what we've got going on with our hitters right now. There's also so much confidence in the pitching side of things. They take a lot of pressure off of each other."
GAME ONE
Game one was one to remember for Pearl River (12-2), as starting pitcher Ann Elise Duncan (McComb; Brookhaven Academy) flirted with perfection. Duncan carried a perfect game into the final out of the five-inning contest against Chipola College (9-12).
The Wildcats were dominant in the circle and productive at the plate, jumping on the Chipola pitching staff from the opening inning.
Kai Goodman (New Orleans, La.; John Curtis) led off the series by ripping a triple into left field. Addy Grace Alexander (Poplarville) followed by putting the third pitch she saw into play, scoring Goodman and reaching first.
Natalee Eaves (Louisville; Choctaw Central) wasted no time, launching a first-pitch home run to straightaway center to score Alexander. Shania Fondren (Batesville; South Panola) followed with a home run to the right-field gap, as the Wildcats went back-to-back and took a 4-0 lead after one.
Duncan answered by striking out the side, sending the Wildcat offense right back to work.
In the second inning, Goodman again sparked the rally with a sharp double down the third-base line. Alexander followed with a single up the middle, advancing to second on the throw and putting two runners in scoring position for Eaves.
Eaves stayed hot in her second at-bat, lining an RBI single to center. Goodman scored, and Eaves moved up on the throw. Fondren reached base in the next at-bat, setting up Maeli Ben (Conehatta; Newton County) for an RBI hit by pitch. Jaycee Holifield (Laurel; Stringer) added another RBI with a five-pitch walk, scoring Eaves and extending the lead to 7-0.
Another big offensive inning led to Duncan striking out three straight Chipola hitters. In the bottom of the third, Pearl River drew two free passes before Fondren crushed her second home run of the day — a moonshot to center — to make it 11-0.
After Duncan continued her strong outing in the fourth, the Wildcats added three more runs. Pearl River opened the inning with a single, single, double and walk to score one run and load the bases. Eaves and Fondren each drove in a run, pushing the lead to 14-0.
Duncan entered the fifth having retired 12 straight batters. The first hitter flied out to center field, followed by a strikeout on four pitches, leaving Duncan one out away from a perfect game.
With a 2-1 count, Duncan surrendered the lone Chipola hit on a line drive to left. She rebounded immediately, striking out the final batter to secure the one-hit, 14-0 victory.
GAME TWO
Chipola struck first in game two, scoring three runs in the opening inning. Down 3-0 early, Pearl River's offense stayed hot.
Eaves doubled on a ball rocketed to left, setting the stage for Fondren, who homered to left field to pull the Wildcats within one.
Ana-Grace Garcia (Baton Rouge; St. Joseph's) struck out one in the top of the second before the Pearl River bats went back to work. The Wildcats strung together three singles in the bottom of the inning to load the bases for Eaves, who launched a grand slam — Pearl River's second in as many games — to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead.
The offense continued. Fondren was hit by a pitch, Ben singled, and Holifield crushed a home run over the center fielder's head to make it 9-3.
Chipola responded in the fourth, cutting the deficit to 9-5 before capitalizing on a Wildcat error to make it 9-6.
Pearl River answered immediately. Eaves, Fondren and Ben opened the bottom of the fourth with three straight singles, bringing in the final run of the game as the Wildcats closed out a 10-6 win.
NEXT UP
Pearl River stays home hosting Pensacola State College Tuesday at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
TICKETS
Season and single-game tickets will be on sale soon at PRCCAthletics.com/tickets. Single-game tickets will be $9 if purchased in advance or $11 if purchased on gameday.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River softball games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
