TOUGALOO, Miss. – With nine runs across the plate, the Mississippi Valley State baseball team quickly erased their losing streak with a 13-9 victory over Tougaloo Wednesday (April 24). The Delta Devils' squashed a 13 game drought and improved to 7-22 on the season.
 
Five runs came home in the fourth, capped off by a double from Billy Leflore (Carthage, Miss.). Wendell Rieves (Crawford, Miss.) added an RBI single for a run in the second. Valley scored three more times in the third for a 9-0 lead.
 
Tougaloo did not go away quiet, however. In the fourth the Bulldogs sent five men in to score, even as a Devils double play helped to diminish the rally.
 
Valley added runs in the fifth and sixth, with James Walton (Lisman, Ala.) coming in on a Frederick Spencer II (Indianola, Miss.) fielders' choice for a 10-5 lead. Leflore would score off a double play to make it 11-5.
 
The Bulldogs got as close as three with an RBI single in the eighth to trim the deficit to 11-8. But a sacrifice fly from Willie Johnson (Lena, Miss.) and an RBI single from Aaron Barkley (El Cajon, Calif.) added two more for Valley in the ninth to put the game out of reach.
 
On the pitcher's mound, Jeremiah Barr (Santee, Calif.) set the tone with a scoreless effort to start the game, earning his first Division I win in the process. Barkley and Spencer also delivered scoreless relief efforts, with Spencer closing the game in the ninth.
 
Mississippi Valley will host Alcorn State in a weekend SWAC matchup. Games are Friday (April 26) at 3 p.m., Saturday (April 27) at 2 p.m. and Sunday (April 28) at 1 p.m. in Itta Bena.