The Vicksburg Missy Gators came roaring out of the gate in their playoff opener.

Vicksburg scored 12 runs in the first four innings, then held off a late charge by Oxford to win 13-9 Friday in Game 1 of their first-round Class 5A softball playoff series.

Game 2 is Saturday at 4 p.m. at Vicksburg’s Softball Swamp, and Game 3 will follow if necessary. The Missy Gators are trying to advance to the second round for the second consecutive season. Prior to 2015, they had not won a playoff series in the first 15 years of the program’s existence.

“Defensively we weren’t bad, but we made some bad errors at times,” Vicksburg coach Brian Ellis said. “We hit the ball well and had some baserunning mistakes that cost us some runs early. We just have to make the routine plays tomorrow and we can close it out.”

The Missy Gators scored twice in the first inning, then blew it open with five more runs in the second. Oxford committed three errors to help the second-inning rally along.

After Oxford cut it to 7-4 in the bottom of the second inning, the Missy Gators added three runs in the third and two more in the fourth to take a 12-4 lead.

Oxford committed two more errors as Vicksburg padded its lead, and finished with nine in the game.

“We took advantage of mistakes, definitely,” Ellis said. “We had opportunities to add some more runs to the board, but we had a few baserunning mistakes that took us out of a couple potential big innings. I think we left 10 or so on base. The biggest part of their errors were throwing.”

Although Oxford’s defensive blunders were a big factor in the outcome, the Missy Gators did hit the ball well. They had 12 hits total, with Beth Martin and Jazmin Green collecting three apiece and Shelby Muirhead going 2-for-5. Olivia Oakes drove in two runs, while Myah’ Wright and Hannah Emerson each scored twice. Jada Sims scored three runs.

“For the most part the girls stayed confident and got out of the trouble spots. They are a good hitting team, but we reacted positively,” Ellis said. “We had all but two players with at least one hit. A great team effort, hitting wise. It was a good team win tonight.”

VICKSBURG VS. OXFORD

Class 5A softball playoffs

Game 1: Vicksburg 13, Oxford 9

Game 2: Oxford at Vicksburg, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Game 3: Oxford at Vicksburg, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. (if necessary)