East Mississippi and Meridian play to MACJC softball doubleheader split in Scooba

SCOOBA – In the midst of their current softball home stand, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College used an eight-run fifth inning to claim an 11-8 win over rival Meridian Community College during Tuesday's first game of an MACJC doubleheader played at the EMCC Softball Field.  The visiting Lady Eagles held on to earn the twin-bill split with a 7-5 nightcap victory.

In the opener, the Lions jumped out to an early 3-1 lead by scoring three times in the bottom of the second off MCC starting pitcher Chelsea Thornton.  Mallory Vance's two-out, two-run double to left field was followed by an RBI single from Sydney Olander.

After cutting the deficit in half by manufacturing a solo run in the third on a double-steal, the visitors took a brief 5-3 lead in the top half of the fifth.  Taking advantage of a pair of EMCC infield errors, two walks and a hit-batsman, Meridian batted around to score three runs on only one hit.

The Lions immediately responded in the bottom half of the frame by sending 13 batters to the plate during their eight-run explosion.  Six hits, including run-scoring doubles from Olander, Marissa Landrum and Molly McLeod as well as a two-run single by Vance, combined with a trio of Meridian miscues, resulted in an 11-5 EMCC lead after five innings.

The Lady Eagles didn't go quietly and cut the six-run deficit in half with three more runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Mycahla Howard's solo home run.  In relief of EMCC starting pitcher Zoie LaVergne, sophomore left-hander Valiree Blair minimized the sixth-inning damage and held Meridian scoreless in the seventh to notch her second straight victory of the season.

Vance, a product of West Lauderdale High School, paced EMCC's nine-hit team effort in the opener by going 3-for-3 at the plate with four RBIs and two runs scored.  Olander, out of Germantown High School, went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs driven in.

East Mississippi couldn't maintain the momentum of the opening-game win during the nightcap.  MCC starting pitcher Payton Fox held the Lions hitless until the fourth inning, while being staked to a 6-0 lead before the Lions could get on the scoreboard.  Howard's two-run blast – her second homer of the afternoon - in the first inning was followed by an unearned run in the second to make it 3-0.

The Lady Eagles doubled the margin by reaching EMCC starting pitcher Ciara Steward and reliever Jordan Self for three runs in the top of the fifth.  The big blow of the inning for Meridian was Alexandria Riser's two-run double with the bases loaded.

EMCC's bats finally started to warm up in the bottom half of the fifth when Breanna Glass smacked her second home run of the year – a two-run shot to left-center – off Fox.  The visitors got a run back in the sixth on Howard's sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.

The Lions seemed to reclaim the momentum during their next at-bat, as Meridian opened the door defensively with a couple of miscues in the field.  A dropped ball in foul territory and a throw-away at second base on a fielder's choice opportunity preceded a misjudged, line-drive double to center field off Landrum's bat that plated the first two runs of the inning.  Rachel Rooney followed with an RBI single to pull EMCC to within 7-5 with no outs.

That's when Fox gave way to Thornton in the circle for Meridian.  The sophomore right-hander proceeded to retire the next six EMCC batters in order into the final frame to preserve the nightcap victory and earn the twin-bill split for the visitors.

The Lady Eagles out-hit EMCC, 10-7, in the second game, paced by Brianna Duquette's 3-for-3 effort.  After reaching base safely all four times in the opener, Howard capped an official 4-for-5 day at the plate, including two hit-by-pitches and a sacrifice fly, with four RBIs during the nightcap.

Coach Kyndall White's EMCC Lions, now 12-12 overall and 7-5 in conference play, are slated to conclude their current home stand with a scheduled 2 p.m. Friday doubleheader against Pearl River Community College on the Scooba campus.