FLOWOOD - Drew Alford belted a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning Friday to lead Tupelo to a 5-4 victory against Northwest Rankin in the opening round of the 6A state baseball playoffs.

The Golden Wave (20-8) swept the best-of-three series in two games after winning 5-2 Thursday in Tupelo. Tupelo advances to play Clinton or Southaven Friday, Saturday and May 10, if necessary, in a best-of-three state quarterfinals series.

"That was a clutch home run for us at a big time in the game," Tupelo coach Gary Enis said. "Drew's been hitting really strong against left-handed pitching."

Alford, a senior left fielder who had struck out in three previous at-bats, hit a 2-1 pitch off Northwest Rankin reliever Cody Livingston (6-1) to plate Kirk Roberts, who had reached on a walk.

Livingston had relieved Cougars starter Brandon Pennington.

Northwest Rankin (22-6) had an opportunity to tie or win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, but a bases-loaded force out at second on a ground ball ended the game.

Tupelo loaded the bases with an intentional walk to Northwest Rankin's Mississippi State signee Taylor Stark. While the move set up the potential force at any base, it did put the winning run on second.

"We'd talked with other coaches and they had told us to not let Stark beat you," Enis said of his decision. "We liked the odds of our pitcher (J.D. Roberts) against their hitter (Brandon Gibson)."

Roberts, a left-hander, earned the save in relief of starter and winner Ben Hudspeth (6-1).

Tupelo tied the game at 1-1 in the second when William Goss scored from third on a passed ball. The Wave cut the score to 3-2 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Collin Dexter.

Dylan Vuncannon, who paced Tupelo with two singles, drove in a run in the sixth to cut the Cougars' lead to 4-3.

"It was an exciting game," Enis said. "We're proud to be moving on to the next round."