No. 15 EMCC Lions clinch regional berth with 12-2 run-rule victory over Meridian in MACJC State Baseball Tournament

RAYMOND – The 15^th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College punched their ticket to next week's NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament by claiming a 12-2 run-rule victory over No. 19 Meridian Community College in Friday's first elimination game of the MACJC State Tournament.     

Bouncing back from Thursday's 9-7 opening-round loss to 20^th-ranked Northwest Mississippi, the EMCC Lions banged out 18 hits and scored in all but one of the seven innings against Meridian en route to setting up a rematch with NWCC for Friday night's second elimination game.  In the nightcap at Joe G. Moss Field on Hinds Community College's Raymond campus, the Lions and Rangers battled to a 3-3 tie through six innings before Northwest erupted for seven runs in the top of the seventh on the way to a 10-5 victory.  With the Friday night triumph, the Rangers advanced to Saturday's championship round against the home-standing and top-ranked Hinds Eagles.

To complement East Mississippi's active bats in the first game of the day, freshman closer Ryan Rigby stepped out of his typical relief role for his first start of the year and threw six shutout innings before giving way to the EMCC bullpen. 

Against Meridian, the Lions went through six Eagle pitchers and took advantage of six hit-batsmen.  After scoring two runs in the first and one more in the second, EMCC took command of the contest by scoring five runs on six singles in the fourth inning.  The designated visitors tallied additional solo scores in the fifth and sixth as well as two more in the seventh to stake Rigby to a 12-0 lead.

Meridian finally reached EMCC pitching in the bottom of the seventh when Jaylon Keys touched Colton McKeithen for a two-run homer to left field.  However, reliever Jay Booth came in to shut down the Eagles and keep the contest at the 10-run mercy rule margin.  The MCC Eagles ended the season with a 33-17 overall record.      

Leading the charge for East Mississippi offensively in the early game was sophomore catcher Dylan Vuncannon, who went 5-for-5 at the plate with an RBI double to go along with four singles.  With everyone hitting safely throughout EMCC's starting lineup, Blake Key and Kyle Liberto had three hits apiece while Corley Reynolds added a pair of hits.

Rigby improved to 3-1 on the year to go along with his team-high five saves.  In the first pitching start of his collegiate career, the Kosciusko product allowed but two singles and induced three ground-ball double plays by Meridian over his six innings of work with three strikeouts and five walks.

In Friday's nightcap, a trio of early home runs knotted the score at 3-3 through three innings.  Northwest Mississippi struck first with back-to-back homers by Stuart Chick and Dalton Dulin off EMCC starting pitcher Layton Dill in the first inning.  After Chris McCullough got the Lions on the board in the second by scoring on a passed ball following his lead-off double, NWCC countered with a two-out solo shot by Clay Casey in the third off JC Redden.  East Mississippi responded in the bottom of the third with JoVaughn McNabb's game-tying, two-run homer to left field – his fourth of the year – off Northwest starter Colt Smith.

Middle relief held up for both teams as they went scoreless through the middle frames.  However, the Rangers broke open the elimination contest by sending a dozen batters to the plate in the seventh inning.  Four hits, four walks and a costly infield throwing error on a possible double-play ball resulted in a seven-run frame for the designated visiting team off EMCC relievers Ryder Davis and Jake Bracewell.

The Lions answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by reigning NJCAA Division II Player of the Week David Pimentel and McCullough's sacrifice fly to account for the 10-5 final.

Out-hit 13-9 by Northwest in the nightcap, East Mississippi was paced offensively by Pimentel, McCullough and Key with two hits apiece.  

Set to be hosted by second-ranked LSU Eunice beginning Thursday in Eunice, La., next week's (May 14-17) NJCAA Region 23 Baseball Tournament field will also feature reigning NJCAA Division II World Series runner-up Hinds and Northwest Mississippi.  Coach Chris Rose's East Mississippi Lions will enter regional tournament play sporting a 29-16 overall record, including an MACJC regular-season, runner-up finish with a 20-8 league mark.