OCEAN SPRINGS &8212; The Ocean Springs Lady Greyhounds used a barrage of hits to upend the Natchez Lady Bulldogs 10-1 and 13-2 in the first round of the South Mississippi 5A girls slow pitch at the Ocean Springs High School campus.

Ocean Springs (17-2) scored early and often in the sweep of the best-of-three series.

&8220;I think we played all right for the most part,&8221; Lady Greyhound coach Kiley Hughes said. &8220;We can&8217;t get complacent and make mistakes as the next round won&8217;t be forgiving to miscues.&8221;

Ocean Springs jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning of game one with freshman Mandy Quave, Karen Hoppner and Jamie Smith leading the way with hits to give the Lady Greyhounds a lead that they would not lose.

&8220;I thought if anything we kind of got started a little slow,&8221; senior first baseman Ashton Wade said. &8220;We have been out of school for the last few days and kind of out of our normal routine, but we got things going.&8221;

Hoppner led the Lady Greyhounds with three hits and two RBI. Quave banged out two hits and four RBIs and Smith had two hits and two RBIs.

Smith picked up the pitching win in the 10-1 Game One win.

Charlie Jones and Tori Paxton led the Lady Bulldogs with two hits each.

The Lady Greyhounds wasted no time, plating eight runs in the first two innings, and jumping all over Natchez and dashing any hopes of a comeback.

&8220;We got good and loose in the second game and really swang the bats,&8221; senior left fielder Chelsey Dusang said. &8220;We still have to fine-tune our game, though, backing up throws and concentrating more on not making mistakes.&8221;

The second game was called after five innings with the 10-run rule coming into effect.

Quave and Hoppner led Ocean Springs with three hits and four RBI&8217;s each, while Wade and Dusang each added two hits.

Smith picked up the mound victory in the nightcap.

Paxton led the Lady Bulldogs with two hits in the second game.

&8220;We have been pretty consistent all year,&8221; Quave said. &8220;I know the games Saturday will be tough but we will be ready.&8221;

Natchez (3-13) closed out the year that had Coach Charlie Williams speaking of a learning experience for his young club.

&8220;I am proud of my girls and their effort this season,&8221; Williams explained. &8220;We didn&8217;t play to our expectations in the two games. When you don&8217;t hit and you make errors, good things don&8217;t happen.

&8220;It was a learning experience that I know our kids will grow on and make them a better team next season though.&8217;&8217; Ocean Springs meanwhile will travel this Saturday to Biloxi.

&8220;We split with Biloxi this year, they are very tough,&8221; Hughes said. &8220;The key to advancing is to play with intensity and don&8217;t give the other team extra outs by playing good defense.&8221;