Extra-inning comeback lifts EMCC Lady Lions to home doubleheader softball split with Northeast Mississippi

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College softball team rallied for a 4-3, extra-inning victory in Tuesday's game one over visiting Northeast Mississippi Community College to gain an MACJC North Division doubleheader split at the EMCC Softball Field.  The Lady Tigers came back to claim a 10-2 run-rule win over EMCC in the nightcap.

In the opener, Northeast took an early 2-0 lead with back-to-back doubles by starting pitcher Bianca Chagolla and Andrea Cutts in the first inning and an Erin Dixson solo home run in the third.   

The Lady Lions evened the score with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth.  A one-out double by Misty Richard and consecutive walks to Charly Boswell and Sarah Dudley loaded the bases off Chagolla.  With Chagolla then moving to third base defensively, sophomore outfielder Haley Tutor's grounder in the hole between third and short nicked off Chagolla's glove for a two-run single.

The score stayed tied for the next three innings to force the extra frame.  In the top of the eighth, Victoria White's one-out double to left-center field off EMCC's Amelia LaVergne scored Cutts, who began the inning on second base as Northeast's international tie-breaker base runner.  LaVergne settled down to retire the next two batters and strand courtesy runner Mirah Terry at third base.  

Sophomore outfielder Amber Spann led off the home half of the eighth by singling down the left-field line off Dixson to move tie-breaker runner Kendal Carpenter to third base.  Taylor Hackney and Richard followed with consecutive run-scoring infield singles to give the Lady Lions the 4-3 comeback win in the opener.

With eight hits as a team in game one, Richard and freshman catcher Abby Roberts led the way offensively with two hits apiece for the Lady Lions.

LaVergne, a sophomore right-hander, improved her season's record to 5-2 by working the final five innings in relief of EMCC starter Kendra Wilson.  LaVergne, from Rayne, La., allowed just three hits and one run while striking out five to pick up the victory.

The nightcap also developed from an early 2-2 deadlock as each team plated a pair of two-out runs in the opening inning.  For Northeast in the first, Chagolla led off with a single and moved to third on subsequent groundouts.  A Dixson double was followed by an RBI triple from Haleigh Moffett.

For EMCC in the first, Tutor, from New Hope High School, got things started with a lead-off double.  Jade Albritton coaxed a two-out walk to set up Meri Morgan Fortune's two-run double to right-center field and knot the score at 2-all.

The visitors broke things open in the third with four consecutive singles off EMCC starter Halie Green (3-4).  Northeast batted around and efficiently put up five runs on five hits to move ahead 7-2.

Offensively, the Lady Lions were limited to only three more hits by Dixson, Northeast's game two starter, over the final five innings, as they were not able to advance a runner to third base after the opening frame.

Northeast, now 12-7-1 overall and 6-2 in division play, added a solo tally in the fourth and two unearned runs in the sixth to provide the necessary eight-run margin for the run rule to take effect.  Handing the Lady Lions their first division loss of the season, the Lady Tigers out-hit EMCC 14-5 in the second game.

Coach Kyndall White's 12-10 EMCC Lady Lions moved to 5-1 within the division following Tuesday's split.  After playing host to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in a non-division twin bill on Thursday (1 p.m.), EMCC will get back into division play Saturday at Northwest Mississippi Community College with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. in Senatobia.