EMCC Lady Lions open division softball slate with dominating doubleheader sweep at Mississippi Delta

MOORHEAD – The East Mississippi Community College softball team began MACJC North Division play in impressive fashion on the road with a dominating doubleheader sweep, 16-1 and 19-1, at Mississippi Delta Community College Saturday afternoon.    

Exploding for huge third innings during each of the run-ruled contests, the Lady Lions totaled 37 hits in scoring their 35 runs on the afternoon.  In batting around in the third frames of both games, the visitors scored seven runs in the third inning of the opener and topped that feat by sending 15 batters to the plate in a nine-run third during the nightcap.

EMCC used the long ball early in the opener to help jump out to a 10-0 lead through three innings.  Amber Spann's three-run homer – her team-leading third of the year – in the second inning was followed by Halie Green's two-out grand slam an inning later.  Green's bases-clearing blast marked her second round-tripper of the season.

Tacking on two runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth, the Lady Lions banged out 18 hits with five players achieving multiple-hit outings.  Freshman Abby Roberts led the way with three singles in three at-bats.

In the circle, Taylor Hackney made her collegiate pitching debut by striking out five and allowing just three hits to the Lady Trojans in the opening game.  The former Bayou Academy standout also had two singles at the plate in the opener and finished the afternoon with five hits.

The nightcap featured the same domination as the Lady Lions stroked 19 more hits with six players recording multi-hit efforts.  Hackney's three-hit outing was equaled by fellow freshman Jade Albritton, who drove home three runs in the second game with a first-inning RBI single and a two-run double in the third.

Roberts, from Clarkdale High School, added two more singles in the nightcap to complete a 5-for-6 twin bill at the plate.  Freshman Corey Dawkins belted a double and a triple in the second contest.

Sophomore right-hander Amelia LaVergne raised her club-leading pitching record to 4-2 on the season by giving up just three hits with six strikeouts during game two.

Winners of five of their last six contests, head coach Kyndall White's 9-9 EMCC Lady Lions play host to Coahoma Community College in a Saturday (March 16) home doubleheader slated for a noon start on the Scooba campus.