Even though the day didn't begin as they hoped, the Bears made sure to end it on a high note, Saturday, with a win over the visiting Mineral Area Cardinals. Southwest fell 7-1 in Game 1 and won 14-4 in five innings in Game 2.
 
"In Game 1, we were really disappointed in our effort and I didn't think that we gave that much effort in Game 1. In Game 2, we came out and got off to a bad start again. TK (Davis) came in and held us together," Southwest head coach Jack Edmonson said. "He pitched lights out."
 
In Game 1, the Bears (3-4), fell behind early as the Cardinals plated five runs in the first inning, setting the tone.
 
Southwest struggled to respond and fell in a deeper hole in the fourth when Mineral Area added two more runs making it a 7-0 game.
 
Zayne Landry was responsible for the run for the Bears, hitting a sacrifice fly to left allowing Trace Roy to score, making it a 7-1 game in the fifth.
 
In Game 2, the Bears fell behind early once again as the Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning. Davis came on in relief and got to work immediately, striking out a Cardinal and ending the threat.
 
Southwest cut the lead in half in the second as Gage Hinnant got on base following a single and scored later in the inning on a passes ball making it a 2-1 game.
 
Davis followed up his two strikeouts in the second inning, getting three in the third and two more in the fourth.
 
He got help from his offense in the fourth as the Bear bats got into rhythm. A Tanner Moore single was followed by a Gage Hinnant double. Later in the inning, both scored when Jake Meilstrup doubled to left, tying the game at 3.
 
During the ensuing at bat, Meilstrup stole third base and scored when Cam Bolden hit a sacrifice bunt giving the Bears their first lead at 4-3.
 
After the bases became loaded on a single and two walks, Cody Presley drew a walk resulting in another Southwest run making it a 5-3 game.
 
The Cardinals narrowed the gap a bit in the fifth scoring a run to pull within one.
 
But Southwest answered with a huge rally in the bottom half of the inning. An RBI single from Hinnant was followed by a bases-loaded walk to Bolden and an RBI double from Cooper Lewis.
 
Later in the inning Presley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, followed by a walk to Moore and a Hinnant single resulting in two more runs. Meilstrup capped his big day at the plate with a two-RBI single before Lewis drew a bases-loaded walk, resulting in the walk-off score for the Bears.
 
Meilstrup went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and five RBIs. Hinnant went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and one RBI. Davis Knight and Lewis each had two hits with the latter also recording two runs scored and two RBIs.
 
Davis struck out eight and gave up only two hits, two runs (one earned) and two walks over 3.2 innings of work.
 
The Bears return to action on Monday with a road doubleheader against Delgado at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.