CLINTON — Vicksburg High had plenty of chances to steal a victory over Clinton on Tuesday and vault back into the Division 4-6A championship race.

The Gators missed every single one, and now they might be down to their last.

Vicksburg got runners to second base in every inning except the seventh, yet only managed to get one beyond that. None scored, and Clinton was able to walk the tightrope to a 2-0 victory that put it in the driver’s seat in the title chase.

The teams meet again Friday night at Bazinsky Field, and first-place Clinton (14-3, 4-0 Division 4-6A) can all but wrap up the title with another victory. Vicksburg (8-9, 2-3) is still very much alive, but needs a win Friday — and another when the teams play for a third time on April 12 in Clinton — to have any chance.

“We can beat them two out of three. We win Friday, and we’re in business,” Vicksburg coach Cody Zumbro said. “If we can beat them two out of three and beat Warren Central, I like our chances.”

The Gators will have to hit better in the clutch than they did Tuesday to have a chance, too. Only one of their eight base runners got past second base, and that was when Cody Waddell alertly took third on an infield hit by Keaton Jones in the fifth inning.

Clinton’s Jayme Monroe constantly got ahead in the count against Vicksburg’s hitters and was able to work out of each and every jam. He struck out four batters and needed just 82 pitches to throw a complete game.

“We’ve just got to make our mind up to hit the baseball. We’ve got to be aggressive. The guy challenged us with his fastball and we’ve got to turn it around on him,” Zumbro said. “It’s frustrating. We talked all week about being aggressive. I have no answers about why we got up to the plate and didn’t swing.”

Vicksburg’s offensive woes wasted a sharp pitching performance by Cameron Cooksey. The junior right-hander held Clinton to five hits, walked one and struck out five, but took the loss. Kyle Washington doubled and scored on Patrick Barnes’ RBI single in the first inning to spot the Arrows a 1-0 lead, and Grady Turman drove in an insurance run with another RBI single in the sixth. Both runs were unearned.