Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Poplarville, Miss. - When the bats of the ICC baseball team (3-4) are on, they're on. Conversely while allowing two or fewer runs in three of their five games thus far, they looked to continue that trend on Saturday. Now, it wouldn't be easy, as they were matched up with Pearl River (12-2), the defending National Champions, and #1-ranked team in the NJCAA Division-II poll, on their field no less. Alas, that was not enough to phase the Cougars, as they would hold on for a near-shutout against the Wildcats in game one of the doubleheader, before Pearl River got their quick revenge in the nightcap. 

ICC COUGARS 3, #1 PEARL RIVER 1
It took awhile for either team to get their bats going in the opener. That was, at least for the Cougars, until the third inning. Matt Evans and Luke Doty both singled to get things going. Beau Durbin would follow that up with one of his three hits, legging out an infield single that would score Evans and Doty would make all the way to third base on. Doty set up Josh Heyder for what would become an RBI sacrifice fly after just two pitches, scoring Doty and putting ICC ahead 2-0 after three.

The Cougars would go ahead 3-0 in the fifth when Durbin found open grass in center field for a single, scoring Doty. Durbin has emerged as the leading hitter for coach Brett Kelley to this point, holding a team lead in batting average by .123, hitting at a +.400 clip. 

As it was, it would already be enough of a cushion for Nick Hainline on the mound, who by game's end had dazzled. Down to two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Hainline was throwing a one-hitter, in fact. 

Alas, the Wildcats finally broke through with a solo home run before the bottom of the seventh could wrap, setting the 3-1 final score. After Hainline completed a 109-pitch, 8-inning outing, Kaiser Quick came on and shut the door with a one-inning, two-strikeout relief appearance to secure the win over #1 Pearl River. 

Hitting:
Beau Durbin | 3 hits, 1 double, 2 RBI
Luke Doty | 1 hit, 1 walk
Matt Evans | 1 hit

Pitching:
Nick Hainline | 8 innings, 1 earned run, 9 strikeouts
Kaiser Quick | 1 inning, 0 hits, 0 earned runs, 2 strikeouts

#1 PEARL RIVER 15, ICC COUGARS 0
The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. Well, neither team had time to envelop themselves in either emotion. Certainly, Pearl River needed no further motivation than having lost the first game, as they would go right to work. The Wildcats would slaughter seven runs across in just the bottom of the first inning, putting ICC behind the eight ball early. Although there was plenty of baseball left to be played, it was simply too much of a gap, and the Wildcats were simply too fired up after having lost the first game. 

That 7-0 deficit quickly swelled to 12-0 after just five innings. 

Pearl River would pour it on, launching a leadoff home run in the sixth inning, one of three homers the hosts would hit in the finale. An RBI single and wild pitch set the final score. 

ICC's bats just weren't able to find a rhythm, as the Wildcats marched out four different pitchers, with no hurler seeing more than 38 pitches. Three Cougars evenly split the hits for the night. 

Hitting:
Clayton Shirley | 1 hit
Tyler Bishop | 1 hit
Hunter Thornton | 1 hit
Hunter Cooley | 1 walk
Griffin Roesch | 1 walk

Pitching:
Kaiden Rixner | 2 innings, 1 strikeout
Beau Beeney | 3 innings, 2 strikeouts
Cole Thomas | 4 batters faced

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs (4-6)
Sunday, February 26th - 2 & 5 PM
@ Ken Farris Field - Perkinston, Miss.
WATCH LIVE; BOTH GAMES (BulldogLIVE)
LIVE STATS; GAME ONE (GameChanger)
LIVE STATS; GAME TWO (GameChanger)