POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Riding a 13-strikeout gem from Drew Harrison (Madison; Germantown), the No. 1 Pearl River baseball team opened Region 23 Tournament play with a 4-1 win over 9-seed Hinds.
"He (Harrison) wanted the baseball, and that's what you want in the first game of the Region tournament," head coach Michael Avalon said. "A guy who can go out there and put up zeros — and he did that. They did a really good job of getting us to hit into some double plays, but I was proud of our hits and their timeliness."
With the win, Pearl River advances to face the winner of No. 4 Jones College and No. 5 Copiah-Lincoln on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Visit PRCCAthletics.com/Region23BSB for more information.
Harrison set the tone immediately, striking out the side in order to open the game. He retired the first seven batters he faced before Hinds (28-23) broke through in the third inning with an RBI single.
The Wildcats (45-9) answered right back in the bottom half. Jackson Estes (Madison; Germantown) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, stole second and came around to score when Nico Williams (Gulfport) lined an RBI single into right field to tie the game at 1-1.
From there, Harrison was untouchable. The Jacksonville State commit struck out eight of the next 12 batters he faced, finishing with 13 punchouts across seven innings of one-run baseball.
Pearl River gave him the lead for good in the sixth. Jackson Hood (Madison; Germantown) dropped a first-pitch single into left, and Ethan Garner (Gulfport) followed by ripping a ball down the right-field line for an RBI triple to make it 2-1. Moments later, Kyler King (Picayune) added insurance with an RBI single to left, stretching the lead to 3-1.
Williams capped his perfect day at the plate in the seventh, launching a 415-foot solo home run to straightaway center — his 11th of the season — to push the advantage to 4-1.
Landon Watts (Picayune) handled the rest, tossing the final two innings and facing just seven batters to secure the save.
LEADING THE WAY
Harrison improved to 10-0 on the season, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks while striking out 13 — the second-most in a single game for Pearl River since 2013.
Watts earned a save, tossing two scoreless innings. He struck out one and scattered two hits.
Williams went a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a home run. Beddoe added a multi-hit performance, finishing 2-for-4.
HOW TO WATCH
All Region 23 Tournament games will be livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).