Bears stage epic comeback to sweep East Mississippi

Staging a seemingly impossible comeback, the Southwest Bears scored eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in game two of their Saturday non-division doubleheader with visiting East Mississippi to win 11-10 and complete a sweep of the Lions. The Bears took game one 4-1 behind the pitching of sophomore Zach Rowell.

East Mississippi scored four runs in the first and four more in the second to take an 8-0 lead over the Bears (17-21) in the nightcap. Southwest got on the board in the bottom of the second when Darron McKigney walked and later scored on Austin Terrell’s two-out single to make the score 8-1.

The Lions (14-21) scored two more runs in the top of the third to stretch their lead to 10-1. In the fifth inning, German Hays reached base on an error, moved to third on Kade Scivicque’s double and scored on an East Mississippi error. Scivicque then scored on another error by the visitors to make the score 10-3. And then came the sixth inning.

With the bases loaded, Johnny McKenzie walked to score a run and that was followed by a German Hays RBI single to make the score 10-5. A fielder’s choice that put Scivicque on first scored another run and an Aaron Moore sacrifice fly another, making the score 10-7. With the bases loaded again, Terrell singled for the second time in the game to plate two more runs and make the score 10-9.

Two batters later, with the bases loaded again and two outs, Chance Schmidt found a hole between the third baseman and shortstop to send Brandon Austin home with the tying run and Jackson with the game-winner.
Moving from centerfield to the pitcher’s mound, McKigney struck out the first two batters he faced and retired the third on a fly ball to Chris Gill in center field to end the game and record the save.

Reliever Jeffery Courville allowed the first two batters he faced in the sixth inning to reach base on singles. He then retired the next three, one via a strikeout, to pick up the win. Hays and Martin both had singles in the game.

Asked about the win after the game, Terrell said “We were definitely in a hole, but in baseball there’s always a chance (to come back). That’s just how the game is. We played really well as a team, showed a lot of character and got a big win. Hopefully, that will carry over to the rest of the season.”

After providing the game-winning hit, Schmidt said “Everybody had great at bats (in the sixth inning). It was a team effort. We had a lot of unselfish at bats. Everybody was patient and did that they had to do to win.”

An Aaron Brady single in the top of the second put East Mississippi up 1-0 in the opener, but that proved to be all the runs the Lions could muster.

The Bears then picked up all of their runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the win. Connor Goodspeed got things started with a lead-off single and later scored on Martin’s one-out single. Reaching on an error, Schmidt scored when McKenzie reached on another error, making the score 2-1. With two outs, McKenzie reached the plate on a passed ball and Scivicque followed with an RBI single to score Hays. Hays had reached base on a walk.

Zach Rowell gave the Bears seven outstanding innings on the mound to pick up the win. Surrendering only three hits, the right-hander struck out eight batters while issuing only two walks. Moore and McKigney both had singles in the game.

After the completion of the sweep, he said “My stuff wasn’t there, but I pitched through it. They (the defense) just backed me up more this game (and) I’m proud of that.”

“If felt good,” he went on “that if I screwed up, the hitters would be there to back me up. All around, we’re about to turn things around and go into a winning direction.”

The Bears return to division play on Tuesday when they travel to Raymond to face the Hinds Eagles in a 3:00 doubleheader.

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Bears stage epic comeback to sweep East Mississippi