Andrew Crane's four-hit shutout propels No. 16 EMCC to 4-0 MACJC playoff series-clinching win over Delta

SCOOBA – Andrew Crane's complete game four-hitter lifted 16^th-ranked East Mississippi Community College to a 4-0 series-clinching victory over visiting Mississippi Delta Community College in MACJC best-of-three baseball playoff action Saturday afternoon at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field.

On the heels of Friday night's nine-inning pitching gem by Layton Dill in first-inning relief of an injured J'Daylin Jackson, EMCC's 10-1, 4-0 sweep over Delta improved the Lions' overall record to 28-14 and earned them a spot in next week's (May 7-9) MACJC State Baseball Tournament.  The four-team, double-elimination tournament begins Thursday at Joe G. Moss Field on the Raymond Campus of Hinds Community College.

The Hinds Eagles, nationally third-ranked and MACJC regular-season champions, along with MACJC regular-season runner-up EMCC will be joined at next week's MACJC Baseball Tournament by Northwest Mississippi and 15^th-ranked Meridian Community College.  The top three teams coming out of the state tournament will then accompany top-ranked and host LSU Eunice, May 14-17, at the NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament.  

In Saturday's decisive Game 2, Crane's dominance on the mound was evident early.  After erasing Ty Dean's game-opening single by inducing an inning-ending, double-play ball, the sophomore right-hander retired the next 13 batters before allowing a sixth-inning single to Tays Hardy.

Delta's only serious threat offensively came in the seventh when the visitors stranded runners on second and third.  A one-out double by Jordan Lambert was wasted when Crane struck out Will Costinett looking with both Lambert and courtesy runner Demarcus Mahone in scoring position.

The only other hit allowed by Crane during his masterful shutout effort was a two-out triple in the eighth by Dashawn Lindsay, who was stranded when Dean fouled out to left field.

Meanwhile, Crane's initial run support came in the third inning when Corley Reynolds drilled a lead-off triple to the right-center field gap and promptly scored on JoVaughn McNabb's RBI single.

With Delta starting pitcher Matt Ray also throwing an effective 5.2 innings, the score stayed at 1-0 until EMCC freshman slugger David Pimentel launched his MACJC-leading 14^th home run over the left-field wall off reliever Kyle Wilson with Reynolds aboard to make it 3-0.  With his eighth homer in the last 11 games, the Nashville native is now tied for seventh nationally among the NJCAA Division II statistical leaders.  

The Lions, who also swept the MDCC Trojans (5-2, 11-1) earlier in the week at Moorhead to conclude the regular season, added an insurance run in the eighth.  Kyle Liberto was hit by a pitch to open the frame and then bunted over to second before being driven in by Reynolds.

A freshman third baseman from Pascagoula, Reynolds finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI to go along with his 2-for-5 hitting effort in Friday's win over Delta.

En route to improving his season pitching record to 6-1 for the second straight year, Crane needed just 84 total pitches (60 strikes) to get through the quick-moving, nine-inning contest.  The Pascagoula product struck out six and did not issue a walk while getting 13 outs via fly balls and eight by way of the ground.