No. 18 EMCC Lions sweep Copiah-Lincoln for first conference baseball wins

SCOOBA – The 18^th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College swept visiting Copiah-Lincoln Community College, 9-7 and 10-2, during Sunday afternoon MACJC baseball action at Gerald Poole Field.    

Pushed back a day because of Saturday's inclement weather, Sunday's doubleheader sweep of Co-Lin snapped EMCC's six-game losing skid and gave the Lions their first two conference wins of the season.

In the nine-inning opener, the Lions plated all nine runs with two outs and rebounded from mid-game control problems on the mound to get into the win column in conference play.  In the second inning off Co-Lin starting pitcher Christian Day, Marcus Ragan's two-out, two-run triple was followed by Anthony Hickman's RBI double to stake EMCC starting pitcher Alex Knight to an early 3-0 lead.

After the Wolfpack cut the deficit to 3-2 with a run in the third and another score in the fourth on Jaylyn Williams' leadoff home run, the Lions added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.  Following Hickman's second double of the game, sophomore catcher Mike Farnell blasted a three-run homer – his second of the year and fifth of his EMCC career – to extend the lead to 7-2.

With the aid of an inning-opening infield error and benefitting from six walks by three different EMCC pitchers, the visitors pushed across five runs on just one hit in the fifth to even the score at 7-7.  The Lions promptly responded in the bottom half of the frame to reclaim the advantage on Ragan's clutch two-out, two-run single to the opposite field.

That was the extent of the scoring in the opener as neither team could manage any additional runs over the last four innings.  For the Lions, Garrett Ainsworth relieved eventual winner Cole Gullette in the seventh and allowed just two base runners, with three strikeouts, over the final 2.2 innings to earn his second save of the season.

Leading the way for EMCC's 13-hit team effort in the opening game were Farnell and Hickman, who both went 4-for-5 at the plate.  Ragan was 2-for-5 with four runs batted in.

The outcome of the seven-inning nightcap was pretty much decided in the opening frame, as the Lions touched Co-Lin starting pitcher Trammell Martin for six runs on five hits while batting through the order.  Highlighting the opening frame were Whitt Davis' team-leading fourth home run of the year and eighth of his career – a two-run shot over the left-field wall – and De'Andre Pitts' first collegiate homer.

EMCC staked starting pitcher Vijay Miller to a pair of additional runs in the second, including an RBI single by Farnell, to move ahead 8-0.  Co-Lin did reach Miller for solo runs in the third and fourth innings, but Lion relievers Austin Howland and Walker Kelly kept the Wolfpack hitless over the final three scoreless innings to preserve the nightcap victory and complete the sweep.

Miller, a two-sport standout out of Itawamba AHS, improved to 2-0 on the year after allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out three and walking just one, over four innings.  Howland worked the fifth and sixth frames with three strikeouts before giving way to Kelly in the ninth.

The Lions banged out 10 hits as a team in the nightcap, led by Davis' 3-for-4 effort at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored.  Hickman added two more singles and scored three runs in the second game to cap his 6-for-8 performance on the afternoon.

Coach Chris Rose's EMCC Lions, 11-7 overall and 2-4 in conference play, travel to Moorhead to take on the Trojans of Mississippi Delta Community College in a 1 p.m. Tuesday twin bill at the Jimmy Bellipanni Baseball Complex.