East Mississippi takes early lead in MACJC baseball race with 9-5, 8-4 road sweep over No. 11 Jones County

ELLISVILLE – The Lions of East Mississippi Community College have taken the early lead in the MACJC baseball race with Sunday's road doubleheader sweep over preseason 11^th-ranked Jones County Junior College.  Following a four-run 10^th inning that propelled EMCC to a 9-5 victory in the opener, the visitors completed the sweep with an 8-4 nightcap win over the Bobcats at JCJC's Community Bank Park.

With their second conference road sweep in as many weekends, head coach Chris Rose's 10-6 EMCC Lions remain unbeaten (4-0) in MACJC play with four consecutive upcoming home dates through the month of March.  This coming week, East Mississippi is scheduled to play host to Holmes on Tuesday and Copiah-Lincoln on Saturday at Gerald Poole Field on the Scooba campus.

In Sunday's scheduled nine-inning opening game at JCJC, the Lions rallied from a 5-3 deficit midway through the game to knot the score at 5-all with solo runs off JCJC reliever Tyler Schwaner in the seventh and eighth innings.  With freshman right-hander JC Redden holding the Bobcats to just one run during his five-inning stint in relief of EMCC starting pitcher Andrew Crane, the visitors came through at the plate in dramatic fashion during the top half of the 10^th inning.

With two outs in the extra frame, Vuncannon, who originally signed with JCJC out of Tupelo High School before transferring, started off the EMCC rally with a double to left field.  An intentional walk to David Pimentel followed by Chris McCullough working for a walk on a full-count pitch loaded the bases.  Freshman outfielders Emil Ellis and Taylor Stafford then delivered back-to-back, two-run doubles to provide the winning margin.

From Columbus High School, McCullough's first collegiate home run – a three-run blast off JCJC starter Daniel Goff – gave EMCC the early 3-0 lead in the opening frame.  After plating a run in the second, the Bobcats tied the game at 3-all on a two-run homer by Mason Irby in the third and then took their first lead on a two-out, RBI triple by Tyler Schankin.  Another solo tally by the home team in the sixth set up the 10th-inning dramatics by the visitors.

Offensively in the opener, eight hitters combined for the Lions' 12 base hits that included five doubles and the homer.  McCullough, Ellis, Stafford and JoVaughn McNabb all had two hits apiece for EMCC to lead the way.

On the mound, freshman Jay Booth worked a perfect ninth inning for the Lions as the recipient of his first collegiate victory, while Kosciusko's Ryan Rigby nailed down the win by striking out a pair in the 10^th.

Both teams traded runs during the first two innings of the nightcap.  Back-to-back, two-out doubles by Pimentel and Ellis in the first gave EMCC an early 2-0 lead.  A two-out, run-scoring single by Vuncannon in the second was countered by Jones County's solo tallies in the first and second innings off starting pitcher Zach Irwin.

Irwin settled down to retire the Bobcats in order during the third, fourth and fifth innings before giving way to a trio of EMCC relievers.  The freshman left-hander from Madison Central High School gave up two runs on four singles, while fanning six and walking two, en route to earning his first collegiate win.

Irwin left the contest with an 8-2 lead after the Lions plated three more two-out scores in the fourth and followed with an additional pair of runs the next frame.  With four hits and five two-out RBIs on the day, Ellis' two-run single was the key hit in EMCC's three-run fourth inning.

Falling to 14-6 overall and 1-3 in MACJC play, the home-standing Bobcats made things interesting in the final inning of the nightcap.  Following a two-run homer by Chris Morgan off EMCC reliever Ryder Davis, JCJC put two more runners on base before Booth was called upon again and proceeded to strike out Schankin for the final out of the contest.  The freshman right-hander from Florence was credited with his first collegiate save after picking up the win in Sunday's opening game. 

Keyed by McNabb's 3-for-5 effort at the plate and five total hits in the twinbill, East Mississippi banged out a dozen hits in the nightcap as well.  Ellis, Vuncannon and Hunter Brannan all added two hits apiece for the winners in game two.