POPLARVILLE — The start of conference play Sunday provided even more motivation for the Lady Bears in a road doubleheader against No. 16 Pearl River. And despite putting up a strong effort, they were unable to get past the Wildcats, falling 10-2 in Game 1 and 8-0 in Game 2.
 
"In order to win in the league, you have to snatch one or get one when you have an opportunity and I thought that we had an opportunity early in both games," Southwest head coach Shea Johnson said. "We scratched a couple of runs in the first game and we had opportunities in the second game but we didn't take advantage of them."
 
Both the Lady Bears (6-14, 0-2 MACCC) and the Wildcats offenses were jockeying for position in the first inning of Game 1, but it was the pitchers who shined in the first. Southwest starter Allie Ladnier struck out three of the first five batters she faced.
 
In the second, however, Pearl River rallied to plate four runs to make it a 4-0 deficit for Southwest.
 
The Lady Bears answered in the third. With Maggie Wilks and Liberty Gillihan on base via walks, Alyssa Leggett brought both home on a double down the left field line, cutting the Wildcat lead in half at 4-2.
 
The momentum was unfortunately short-lived for Southwest as Pearl River once again made it a four-run deficit for the visitors by scratching two runs across in the third making the score 6-2.
 
Southwest threatened in the fourth, trying to answer by once again putting two on base via walks. But they were unfortunately stranded keeping the deficit at four.
 
In the sixth, the Wildcats scored the final four runs of the game on a single sandwiched between a pair of home runs with the latter being a two-run walk-off that gave the win to the hosts.  
 
Leggett led the Lady Bears with a double and two RBIs.
 
In Game 2, Southwest fell behind 1-0 in the first. Staying within striking distance, the Lady Bears looked to get back in the ball game, but had difficulty getting their offense established.
 
The deficit grew to 2-0 in the third and 4-0 in the fourth as the Lady Bears got baserunners on in the innings but could not get them home.
 
Kate Clements led off the fifth with a double, trying to build some momentum. But the ensuing three batters were retired shutting the door on the opportunity for Southwest.
 
Pearl River added another two runs in the fifth before scoring the final two in the sixth, ending the game.
 
Clements led Southwest with a double.
 
The Lady Bears return home on Tuesday, playing host to Mississippi Delta at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.