EMCC and Southwest Mississippi split a pair of one-run softball decisions in Summit

SUMMIT – The visiting East Mississippi Community College softball team made an early 3-2 lead stand up during Monday's opening game to earn an MACJC doubleheader split with Southwest Mississippi in a makeup twin bill postponed from earlier in the month due to rain.  The home-standing Lady Bears returned the favor by holding on for an 8-7 victory over EMCC in the nightcap.

All the scoring in the opening contest occurred in the first three innings, as pitching and defense dominated the final four frames.  The visitors got on the board first by greeting Southwest starting pitcher Macy Fulton with a pair of runs on three hits in the top of the first.

The Lady Bears answered with solo tallies in the first and second innings off EMCC starter Madison Jacques to tie the game at 2-2.  The Lions promptly reclaimed the lead for good by plating their third and decisive run in the top of the third.  Sydney Olander opened the inning with a single and was brought home on Averi Pender's run-scoring double.

That would essentially be the offense for the first game, as Fulton and East Mississippi reliever Zoie LaVergne combined to allow only one hit between them – a two-out single by EMCC freshman Mallory Vance in the fourth – over the last four innings.  A sophomore transfer from Meridian Community College, LaVergne entered the contest in the second and proceeded to limit SMCC to just five base-runners during her six innings of work.  She only allowed a third-inning single to Kayla Sanchez, while striking out five and walking just one, to improve her pitching record to a team-best 5-1 on the year.

Out-hitting Southwest, 7-4, in the opener en route to snapping the Lady Bears' eight-game winning streak, the Lions were led by Pender and Vance with two hits apiece.

Following the low-scoring first contest, the nightcap began with some offensive fireworks.  After the visitors scored three runs on four singles in the top of the first, the Lady Bears answered with five runs on four hits, including a two-run homer by Jenna Duff, and a costly infield error in the bottom half of the frame.  Southwest added another run in the second to jump out to an early 6-3 lead.

Both teams plated a pair of runs in the fourth frame to keep it a three-run contest.  In the top half, sophomore Blake Rigdon, from Macon's Central Academy, belted her first collegiate home run with a two-out, two-run shot off Southwest starting pitcher Rebecca Davis.  The home team answered by chasing EMCC starter Ciara Steward with two unearned runs in the bottom of the inning.

The Lions continued to chip away at the lead with some additional two-out offense late in the game.  Kendall Wilkinson's run-scoring single in the fifth was followed a frame later by Pender's team-leading third home run of the year, an opposite-field solo blast off Davis that brought the visitors to within one run. 

While EMCC reliever Valiree Blair was shutting down Southwest by retiring the last eight batters she faced, Fulton replaced Davis in the sixth with two out and two on.  SMCC's tough-luck loser in the opening game struck out three of the four batters she faced to preserve the 8-7 nightcap win for the home team.

Again out-hitting the Lady Bears, 14-10, in the second game, EMCC received multiple-hit efforts from Vance, Pender, Olander, Kaitlyn Brannon and Amandalyn Abney.   

Coach Kyndall White's East Mississippi Lions, now 15-13 overall and 10-6 in conference play, are scheduled to play a 1 p.m. Wednesday doubleheader at Northeast Mississippi before returning home to play host to Hinds on Saturday.  First pitch is set for noon at the EMCC Softball Field on the Scooba campus.