The Bears entered Tuesday's contests against Mississippi Gulf Coast and East Mississippi in Perkinston feeling good after winning four-straight. But they couldn't get into rhythm early, falling 9-1 to the Bulldogs in the first game and losing a heartbreaker to the Lions 7-6 in the second.
 
"In the first game, we didn't play with any energy or intensity and that is my fault for not getting them ready to play," Southwest head coach Jack Edmonson said. "That sums up the first game. In the second game, we couldn't close it out. We jumped up 6-0 and swung the bats really good. We just couldn't hold on to the lead."
 
The Bears (7-6) fell behind early in Game 1 as the Bulldogs put up one run in the second inning and three each in the third and fourth innings putting Southwest in a 7-0 hole.
 
The Bears continued to fight and inched closer in the fifth when Davis Knight led off with a walk and later scored when Marcus Jackson hit into a fielder's choice.
 
Trailing 7-1, Southwest tried to pull closer but couldn't find consistency offensively as the Bulldogs sealed the win.
 
Reed Duthu led the Bears with two hits.
 
The beginning of Game 2 was the complete opposite for the Bears as they were the ones who struck first against the Lions.
 
In the first inning, with one on base and two outs, Colson Thompson once again showed his improved offensive play with a triple to center field bringing Gage Hinnant home.
 
Bear starter Matthew Bienvenu kept the Lions at bay in the second getting a strikeout to end the inning despite EMCC putting a runner in scoring position.
 
He got additional offensive help in in the second as Knight smashed his first home run of the season over the right field wall. His two-run shot made it a 3-0 game in favor of the Bears.
 
The following inning, it was Thompson's turn to hit a long ball as he launched a two-run home run of his own to right pushing the Bear lead to 5-0. Southwest added one more run two batters later when Jackson singled to left allowing Nolan Walther to score.
 
The Lions began to claw their way back into the contest with one run in the fifth before adding two more in the sixth. The Bears tried to finish off their opponents but could not slow down the East Mississippi rally as the Lions scored four in the seventh including a walk-off single to seal the game.
 
Hinnant led the Bears with three hits and a run scored. Thompson had two hits, one run scored and three RBIs.
 
The Bears return home Friday to play host to No. 1 Heartland CC at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.