The Vancleave Bulldogs find themselves with their backs against the wall in the Class 5A state championship series.
Balin Bishop lined a single to right field to score Foster Crockett with the go-ahead run in the 12th inning to lift Lafayette to an 8-7 victory over Vancleave in Game One of the best-of-three series on Wednesday night at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
Game Two is on Friday at 7 p.m. with the Bulldogs needing a win to force a decisive third game on Saturday. The Bulldogs are seeking their first state baseball championship since 2018.
The series opener was back and forth all night.
In the home half of the second, Max Bates slapped a two-out single to right field to score Kyle Capers and Aidan Tapp as the Bulldogs (27-8) took a 2-0 lead.
The Commodores (28-7) came back in the third to tie the game on an RBI groundout and run-scoring single by Connor Counts.
Tyler West singled in the bottom of the third and scored on a double to left by Layton Elder to put the Bulldogs on top 3-2.
But again, Lafayette came back to tie the game when Tanner Harris doubled, went to third on a groundout, and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Vancleave regained the lead in the fourth when Tapp singled on a line drive to left and scored on an RBI single by Bates.
Lafayette loaded the bases in the sixth and a walk tied the game at 4-4. A fielder’s choice put the Commodores up 5-4 and Bishop’s two-out RBI single to left put Lafayette up 7-4.
In the seventh, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and Hunter Harper’s base hit. Elder then singled to drive in a run and an error on the play allowed another run to score to cut the deficit to 7-6.
Robert Tinson lifted a sacrifice fly to center to drive in the game-tying run, but a groundout ended the rally and forced extra innings.
Bates paced Vancleave’s 12-hit attack with three hits while Tinson, Parker, and Elder each had two hits.
Bishop had three hits to lead Lafayette’s 10-hit attack.
Brody Breithaupt was the winning pitcher and Parker took the loss.