The Vicksburg Gators caught a win in their first game in the Battle on the River spring break tournament and snapped a five game losing streak by dispatching West Bolivar 6-2 Tuesday afternoon at Bazinsky Field.

The game began as a pitchers’ duel between West Bolivar’s Kirzerrion Lewis and Vicksburg’s Brandon Humphrey, as through three innings neither starter gave up a run or even allowed a ball out of the infield.

The Eagles struck first blood, by scoring two runs on a double play. With the bases loaded, Vicksburg second baseman Haden Luke backhanded a grounder, stepped on second base and threw to first. The lead runner scored, as did Terry Harris who hustled home from second base to give West Bolivar a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Gators got back into the game, with a walk scoring their first run. Then, with the bases still loaded, Ty-Ron Moore smacked a single that scored two runs. A passed ball gave Vicksburg another run.

“I think them getting two runs really kind of woke us up. We stayed with our approach,” Vicksburg coach Derrick DeWald said. “We chased some balls that we shouldn’t have, but at the end of the day I was proud to get those runs in at that point in time and take that 4-2 lead, give us a little bit of a cushion.”

The Gators eventually scored two more runs on an error, after a double by Humphrey set Vicksburg up with two runners in scoring position.

It was the second big game in a row for Moore, who is still getting acclimated with the team after starting late due to basketball. Moore had a home run in his previous outing. He was 1-for-2 on Tuesday, with two walks, two RBIs and a run scored.

“He’s a ballplayer,” DeWald said. “As long as he stays out here and keeps working, he’s going to get better and better.”

DeWald liked some of what his offense did, but was unhappy that they stranded 10 baserunners.

“We had 10 strikeouts with that soft-throwing lefty with runners in scoring position,” DeWald said. “That just tells you we had runners on base throughout the game, we were just a hit or two from really breaking that game wide open. At the end of the day, I’m happy with a win, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us for us to be a better team.”

Meanwhile, Humphrey threw a complete game, retiring the last four batters in order. Humphrey had five strikeouts and allowed six hits and two walks in seven innings. With the Gators facing two more games on Wednesday, Humphrey’s complete game was even bigger than normal. Vicksburg will play Wayne County and St. Aloysius at 12:30 and 5:30 p.m., respectively.

“I have to give credit to Brandon, because he really saved us today,” DeWald said. “That really gave us a shot in the arm to save pitching for tomorrow with two games ahead of us. Brandon did a really good job of just pounding the strike zone.”

For the future, DeWald wants his batters to relax at the plate and find a way to be successful.

“I think once they get a hit, it’s going to loosen them up a little bit,” DeWald said. “As we go on, we’ll be fine, but at the end of the day they have to find it somewhere, and hopefully tomorrow, they’ll come ready to play, and we’ll be excited, and we’ll go to war and hopefully come out victorious for two games.”