PEARL — Luke Williams was a one-man wrecking show and Clarkdale forces a Game 3.

Behind the pitching of Luke Williams and two big innings the Bulldogs got past East Union 4-1 in Game 2 of the MHSAA Class 2A Baseball state championship series on Friday afternoon.

The decisive Game 3 will be Saturday at Noon.

“Very proud of the kids; they were loose as could be and confident as can be with our guy on the mound,” said Clarkdale coach Josh Palmer. “Luke did an outstanding job filling up the zone, throwing strike one and had multiple pitches going and we played great defensively.”

Clarkdale jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Williams and T.J. Gordon both had RBI bunt singles.

The Bulldogs extended their lead to 4-0 in the fifth as Cade Culpepper had an RBI single to right and Williams followed with an RBI double down the right field line.

“We just did what we do and play our brand of baseball, executed offensively with the bunts with runners in scoring position,” Palmer said. “Cade and Luke both had big hits to keep the momentum on our side. We said when we started this thing we had to have a great outing by Jax in Game 1 and same thing with Luke and now we got two of out better pitchers available for tomorrow, so we like our chances.”

Williams (10-2) got the win on the mound tossing a complete game scattering five hits, one run, and had six strikeouts. He also had two hits and two RBI’s to lead Clarkdale (26-10).

“I felt like had it in the first two innings, but it’s really hot so I got tired and that lineup can swing it pretty good, so I had to battle with every hitter. I went out and gave it all I had,” Williams said. “Getting those two runs early was big because it’s easier to pitch with the lead the whole game. We did our thing on offense getting bunts down and executed really well.”

For East Union this is déjà vu all over again. The Urchins lost Game 2 to St. Andrew’s last season and eventually lost Game 3.

Ben Basil had an RBI single for East Union to cut the Clarkdale lead to 4-1 in the sixth. Ethan LaMontague had two hits for the Urchins (32-5).

“They got the hits, and we didn’t, and they made the plays and we didn’t,” said East Union coach Jamie Russell. “We got a lot of seniors, so tomorrow is their last game so they got to lay it on the line and do whatever it takes.”