Vicksburg High’s Christina Morgan tags out Hattiesburg’s Kiona Bolton at second base in the first inning of the Missy Gators’ 8-5 win on Tuesday. (Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

[3/31/04]When the Vicksburg Missy Gators stopped making mistakes Tuesday night, they started winning.

VHS overcame a series of early baserunning blunders, fielding errors, and a 5-0 deficit to beat Hattiesburg 8-5 at Bazinsky Park.

The Missy Gators managed only four hits in the game, but drew 10 walks and took advantage of four errors by the Lady Tigers. VHS scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to complete its comeback from the big deficit.

Hattiesburg’s Sharol Buchannon tripled and scored on a squeeze bunt in the second inning to put Hattiesburg (1-8) ahead 1-0, and the Lady Tigers added four more runs in the third.

A two-run single by Brittiney Hersey, coupled with an error that eventually led to two more runs, keyed the rally, and the Missy Gators (6-13) hurt themselves even more by struggling at the plate.

VHS popped up into two inning-ending double plays in the first two innings and seemed on the brink of leaving the bases loaded in the third. Back-to-back two-out walks to Lindsey Jones and Haley Jones brought in a pair of runs, though, and cut the deficit to 5-3.

“Just making those little errors is what usually kills us. You’ve got to shake that off and step up and get on with the next inning, and then keep going,” said VHS pitcher Whitney Smith, who allowed four hits, struck out six, and shut down the Lady Tigers after the third inning.

In the sixth inning, the Missy Gators finally got their act together at the plate as well. They took advantage of three Hattiesburg errors and two poor decisions on groundballs to score five runs and take their first lead of the game.

A single by Kaci Flairatee and an RBI single by Claiborne Bryant were the only hits in the inning for VHS, which batted around.