Tuesday’s matchup against Ridgeland provided a dose a déjà vu for Vicksburg High.

It allowed itself to get into a manageable deficit against its opponent, seemed to be on track to close the gap, only for the game to be busted open around the fifth or sixth inning.

Ridgeland held a two-run lead at the end of the third inning before scorching the Missy Gators for a 15-2 run rule victory after six innings. The Lady Titans scored their first four runs in the first inning, and then 11 more in their last three at-bats.

“We had a few people strike out, it was more we were overanxious and we need to slow down a bit,” Vicksburg coach Brian Ellis said. “When we did hit the ball we hit it right at them and they made the plays. They were a good hitting team when we played them before.”

The Missy Gators gave up nine runs in the sixth inning, which ley Ridgeland pull away.

Sydnee Pawlak, Natalie Magee and Macey Wilson combined for 10 of Ridgeland’s 14 hits in the game. Pawlak hit a two-run home run that gave Ridgeland an 8-2 lead in the sixth inning.

Jazmin Green scored the final run for the Missy Gators, coming across the plate on a single by Myah’ Wright in the second inning.

As the game wore on, the Missy Gators struggled to keep the ball in play, recording more foul balls than hits.

“We pulled everything so we were way out front. We weren’t waiting for the ball to travel,” Ellis said. “We just need to be able to let the ball get a little bit deeper and then be able to attack it.”

Despite their struggles at the plate, the Missy Gators played solid defense in spurts.

Vicksburg allowed two base hits in the third inning and the shortstop Wright and center fielder Green had the awareness to catch fly balls, and in Green’s case, were dedicated enough to run into the wall for an out.

All in all, Ellis said the first half of the game wasn’t too bad, but the big sixth inning from Ridgeland coupled with three errors made by his team factored into the loss.

“Everything went from there. The first part of the game wasn’t too bad, they hit the ball and earned some hits and earned some runs and I’m fine with that. The first part of the game we actually made plays when they stringed some hits together,” Ellis said.