PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast pitched and slugged its way to a split against Coastal Alabama-East on Tuesday at Ken “Curly” Farris Field. The Bulldogs rebounded from a 7-5 loss in the opener to win the nightcap 11-1.

 

Brody Swindle (Fr., Fairhope, Ala./Bayside Academy) was dominant on the mound, striking out 10 while walking one during five innings of two-hit ball. Sean Smith (So., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) slugged two more home runs and had six RBI.

 

“I told the guys, we have six or seven freshmen in our lineup,” Gulf Coast coach Bob Keller said. “When we learn from our mistakes a little bit, some of those close ballgames will swing in our way.”

 

Gulf Coast closed out its season-opening homestand 4-2 while getting that young lineup some seasoning. The pitching staff has a 3.88 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 44 innings. The bats are hitting at a .339 clip with 12 home runs while averaging nearly 10 runs per game.

 

Swindle just kept throwing strikes against the Warhawks (6-6).

 

“Brody has some deception about him,” Keller said. “He’s 87-89 (mph) and he’s got two other pitches he can throw for a strike. He was strike one on a lot of guys tonight. When he gets ahead, he becomes a tough customer to deal with.”

 

He gave up just two hits, one of which was a solo homer in the third. Gulf Coast was already up 6-0 at that point, thanks to Smith’s two-run homer in the first and three-run shot in the second. He has four home runs in his last four games and leads the team with 13 RBI.

 

“Sean’s doing what Sean is capable of, and even more,” Keller said. “I’m super proud of his effort.”

 

Jayden Mark (Fr., Petal/Petal) hit his second home run and added a double during his three-hit game. Marc Stephens (Fr., Orange Beach, Ala./Gulf Shores) had two hits.

 

Tyler Gunter (Fr., D’Iberville/D’Iberville) struck out two in the final two innings. He had a walk, but Bulldog pitchers walked just three batters all day.

 

Charlie Keller (Fr., Mobile, Ala./Mobile Christian) hit his fifth home run of the season in the opener, but Gulf Coast managed only five hits. Thomas Hollingsworth (So., Madison/Germantown) made his first collegiate appearance on the mound, throwing four innings. He started Game 2 behind the plate.

 

Gulf Coast hits the road for the first time Saturday, traveling to Chalmette, La. The first pitch against Nunez will be at 1 p.m.

 

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