Even though rain has surrounded them all week, the Vicksburg Gators have found themselves in a scoring drought.

Tristan Lowry threw a four-hit shutout, Zach Cox doubled and scored two runs, and Warren Central beat the Gators 5-0 Saturday afternoon at Bazinsky Field.

It was the third shutout loss for Vicksburg (6-14) in less than 24 hours. It was blanked 12-0 by Clinton on Friday night, then lost 12-0 to Ridgeland earlier on Saturday.

Even though his team played better against Warren Central, it’s not the sort of momentum Vicksburg coach Derrick DeWald was hoping for leading into a key division game Monday at Callaway and the Class 5A playoffs later in the week.

“We’re just not getting the timely hits. We had a chance early on with second and third, and struck out. It happens,” DeWald said. “At the end of the day, you can’t win ballgames if you don’t score at least one. We’ve gotten guys on base, we’ve run the bases well, and we just haven’t gotten that key hit.”

Warren Central (15-8), meanwhile, bookended an up-and-down week with wins over its crosstown rival.

The Vikings beat Vicksburg last Monday, lost to Greenville on Wednesday, then finished with wins over Class 6A power Northwest Rankin on Friday and the Gators again on Saturday.

“It’s baseball. People always say it’s the greatest game on Earth because you never know who’s going to win,” Warren Central coach Conner Douglas said. “When playoffs come, the competitors hit another gear and stay at the highest level. Hopefully our guys will.”

Warren Central got the upper hand against Vicksburg largely with one big inning.

Cox led off the second with a double and scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly by John Austin Burris. An error and a walk put two more runners on base, and Logan Stewart delivered an RBI single and Layne Tedder another sacrifice fly to put the Vikings ahead 3-0.

They added runs in the fifth and sixth on RBI singles by Connor Wilkinson and Tyler McRight, but were largely kept in check by the Gators’ pitching staff.

Tyler Smith allowed four runs ­­— only one earned — in five innings. He walked one batter, gave up six hits and struck out four. Latonio Brown finished up and gave up one run but worked out of a couple of jams.

“That’s two games in a row that (Smith) has done well,” DeWald said. “He pitched well. He’s pitched well the last two ballgames. Going forward he’s going to be a big asset for us. He’ll be our first-game starter for the playoffs.”

Lowry had his best outing since pitching a five-inning perfect game against Murrah two months ago.

The 6-foot-8 senior right-hander retired 14 of the last 17 batters he faced and didn’t give up a hit after the third inning. In the first seven-inning complete game of his high school career, Lowry didn’t walk a batter and struck out two.

“I felt good. Fastball was really all I threw,” Lowry said.

Canton Academy 7, PCA 4

Shelton Miller and Hunt Hale drove in runs with sacrifice flies, but Porters Chapel Academy lost to Canton Academy in its regular-season finale on Saturday.

The Eagles will play either Sylva-Bay or Lamar Christian in a first-round MAIS Class A playoff series next week.

St. Aloysius 11, St. Andrew’s 7

St. Aloysius wiped out a six-run deficit by scoring 10 times in the top of the sixth inning, and went on to beat St. Andrew’s on Saturday.

Connor Smith led the Flashes by going 2-for-4 with three runs scored. He also allowed one run in four innings of relief to earn the win.

Will Pierce was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, and Lane Hynum scored two runs and drove in two.

The Flashes (10-8) will play at Cathedral on Monday night at 7. They have already secured a playoff berth, but need a win to finish in second place in Division 7-1A.