The Starkville High School baseball team put a runner on third base with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning, but the Jackets could not get the tying run across as South Panola scored twice in the top of the 11th to post a 6-5 win in Game 2 of their MHSAA Class 6A first-round playoff series on Saturday night in Starkville.
Starkville (10-15), which won the series opener on Friday night in Batesville, scored four runs in the bottom of the first and then was held scoreless for nine consecutive innings. Chipper Hornburger led off with a single, and Koby Livingston followed with a double. Both scored on Brennon Wright’s single. Singles by Ethan Pulliam and Kieran Coleman brought in the third run, and the fourth scored on an infield grounder.
South Panola tied the game in the top of the fifth, and the teams remained scoreless until the 11th. South Panola starter Michael Johnson pitched into the ninth inning, throwing 124 pitches and allowing four runs on 11 hits while striking out eight.
Otto Hyche came on in relief of Karsten Upchurch in the fourth for the Yellow Jackets and finished the game. Hyche threw 116 pitches over 72/3 innings, striking out eight and walking one while allowing three runs on seven hits.
Pulliam finished 4 for 5 for Starkville, while Wright went 3 for 5 with two RBIs.
The deciding third game of the series is, weather permitting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in Batesville.
Ridgeland 4, West Point 1: Ridgeland completed a two-game sweep of the Green Wave as junior Montravious Winn tossed a two-hitter, striking out nine and allowing one unearned run.
Corbin Hendricks had both hits for West Point (10-15). The Titans won despite getting only five hits off of starter Elijah Young and reliever Matthew Bennett, who pitched two scoreless innings.
Ridgeland moves on to face Vicksburg in the second round of the MHSAA Class 5A Tournament.
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