In the final test against tough competition from the Midwest, the Bears split with the No. 4 Lansing Stars, Friday, taking Game 1 6-0 before falling in Game 2, 6-4.
"There were a lot of bright spots that happened today," Southwest head coach Jack Edmonson said. "We swung the bats pretty well today and we played really well in the first game, and we played really good defense for the most part, all day."
The Bears (11-12) jumped ahead in the first inning as Tyler Otts got on base after being hit by a pitch. After stealing second, he was brought home by ensuing batter Colson Thompson who hit a triple to right field.
With the 1-0 lead, Southwest starter Gage Hinnant went back to work, retiring three of the four batters that he faced.
He got additional help in the second inning. With one out, Cody Presley doubled to left and touched home during the next at bat when Lane Steinwinder blasted a ball over the right field wall for not only his first home run of the year but first in his collegiate career. The two-run home run put Southwest ahead 3-0.
"It was one of the farthest balls that I had every hit," he said. "It felt good to get that first collegiate bomb. I felt like it really helped our offense."
The Bears got yet another score in the third when Trace Roy singled to center allowing Thompson —who hit a double earlier — to touch home, making it a 4-0 game.
Marcus Jackson joined the fray the following inning with an RBI single of his own, bringing Reed Duthu home pushing the Bear lead to 5-0.
The final Southwest run came the next inning as the Bears made it five consecutive innings with a score when Gavin Bledsoe scored on an error giving Southwest a 6-0 advantage.
Dawson Richard came on in relief of Hinnant and shut down the Stars to give the Bears the win.
Hinnant picked up the win going 5.0 innings giving up only five hits and one walk while striking out five. Richard struck out two over 2.0 innings.
Thompson led the Bear offense going 3-for-3 with a triple, a double, a run scored and an RBI.
In Game 2, Southwest started Darrius Dampier and even though he got the first two batters he faced out, he got into some trouble in the first when Lansing rallied and scratched two runs across putting the Bears down.
Southwest cut that lead in half in their half of the first when Trace Roy singled in Thompson making it a 2-1 game.
Dampier went back to work in the second and kept the stars from pushing any runs across. His offense provided help in the bottom half of the inning.
After Jackson singled in Nolan Walther, tying the game at 2, the Bears jumped ahead during the ensuing at bat when Jackson stole second base allowing Duthu to steal home on the throw to second, putting Southwest ahead 3-2.
But the lead did not last long, however, as Lansing pushed two more runs across in the third making it a 4-3 deficit for Southwest.
J.P. Lyon came on to pitch in the third and had a strong outing, striking out three of the first four batters that he faced.
In the fourth, Duthu stepped up for the Bears with an RBI single, allowing Presley to score, tying the game once again, this time at 4.
Lyon continued to shine on the mound but ran out of momentum in the sixth when the Stars rallied to plate two runs on a single.
The Bears tried to answer over the last two innings but were unable to.
Lyon struck out eight over 3.1 innings of work while Dampier had four over 2.2 innings.
Walther led the Bears with two hits while Duthu had one to go along with a run scored and an RBI.
Southwest will be back in action on Tuesday hosting Pearl River at Noon and Mississippi Delta at 6 p.m.
