EMCC Lady Lions successfully begin 2015 softball slate with 12-4, 7-6 home sweep over rival East Central

SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College softball team successfully opened its 2015 season with a home doubleheader sweep over rival East Central Community College, 12-4 and 7-6, Tuesday afternoon at the EMCC Softball Field. 

In game one, the Lady Lions overcame an early 3-0 deficit with four runs of their own in the bottom of the third.  The big hit in the inning was a two-out, bases-clearing double by Miranda Crenshaw following an infield error that prolonged the frame.  The Neshoba Central High School product added another RBI with a bases-loaded walk in the sixth. 

With starting pitcher Logan Smith and winning pitcher Chandler Ellis both throwing three innings apiece, EMCC extended the margin with four more runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.  Marissa Landrum's first of two triples on the day drove home two runs in the fifth.  Clarkdale High School's Molly McLeod and Pepper Baker later added run-scoring singles to make it 8-4. 

An inning later, EMCC's first seven batters all reached base safely with McLeod's RBI double into the right-center field gap providing the final margin and ending the contest an inning early due to the eight-run mercy rule. 

Heather Abney went 3-for-4 with three runs scored to lead the Lady Lions' 11-hit effort in the opener.  Landrum was 2-for-4 with three runs batted in as well as three runs scored.  The D'Iberville native had two more hits in the nightcap to finish the afternoon 4-for-7 at the plate, including the pair of triples, with four RBIs and five runs scored. 

East Central was limited to just two hits in the first game.  Starting pitcher Chloe Thaggard took the loss for the Lady Warriors. 

The Lady Lions jumped out early in the nightcap, scoring three times in the first frame and twice in the second to take a 5-0 lead.  The hitting star of the second game, sophomore Anna McCrary knocked in three of EMCC's first five runs with a first-inning double and a two-run single in the second to set the stage for her game-winning hit later in the contest. 

The visitors chipped away at the deficit by plating a solo run in the third inning and two more in the fifth off starting pitcher Valiree Blair to close the gap to 5-3.  After EMCC got one of the runs back in the fifth when Emily Patrick plated Landrum, the Lady Warriors rallied in the top of the seventh with back-to-back doubles by Andi Hannaford and Christen Benson that followed an inning-opening infield error by the Lady Lions.  Anna Katherine Nowell then knotted the score at 6-6 with an RBI single off EMCC reliever Jenny Reynolds. 

The nightcap didn't stay deadlocked long, however, as former New Hope High School standout Kasey Stanfield set the table in the bottom half of the seventh with a one-out opposite-field double.  That's when McCrary, a former New Hope teammate, capped a 3-for-4 outing by smashing a liner to left field off ECCC starter Lacey Hill that scored Stanfield for the winning tally.  McCrary and Landrum combined for five of EMCC's eight hits in game two. 

The Lady Warriors, now 4-2 on the year, out-hit East Mississippi in the nightcap, 13-8, with Maegan Ellis leading the way with a 3-for-5 outing, including a pair of doubles. 

Coach Kyndall White's 2-0 EMCC Lady Lions will participate in the Wildcat Invitational Friday afternoon in Poplarville by taking on the host Pearl River Lady Wildcats at 1 p.m. and then meeting preseason second-ranked LSU Eunice at 3 p.m.