EMCC Lions extend softball win streak to six consecutive games with road sweep over Holmes

GOODMAN – A five-run seventh inning lifted the visiting East Mississippi Community College softball team to a 7-4 come-from-behind, nightcap victory and a doubleheader sweep over Holmes Community College Wednesday afternoon in MACJC conference action.  The Lions exploded for a nine-run fourth inning in the opener to begin the day with a 10-6 win over the Bulldogs.

With the help of freshman right-hander Carly Thompson in relief of starting pitcher Ciara Steward during the second game, EMCC rallied from a 4-2 deficit after three innings.  After Holmes had taken the two-run lead with four runs in the third, Thompson inherited two base runners in scoring position.  Following a one-out walk to Torey Daniels to load the bases, Thompson struck out Madison Frazier and Olivia Wilson to get out of the third-inning jam without any further damage.

Thompson would maintain her dominance in the circle for the remainder of the game, retiring 14 consecutive batters in all, including seven strikeouts.   En route to improving to 3-4 on the year with her third straight victory, the Germantown High School product was the benefactor of the Lions' five-run rally in the top of the seventh.  Consecutive singles from Sydney Olander, Averi Pender and Kendall Wilkinson to ignite the comeback were followed later in the frame by Danielle Darmohray's two-run single and a sacrifice fly by Rachel Rooney.

On the heels of a 10-hit team effort during the opener, EMCC added a dozen hits in the nightcap.  Pender, Wilkinson, Rooney and Treasure Lynch all had two hits apiece in the second contest.  All 22 hits by the Lions on the day were singles.

The Lions also battled back from an early two-run deficit in the opening game.  After EMCC pushed across an unearned run in the top of the third, Holmes answered in the bottom half with three runs off starting pitcher Madison Jacques.

The Bulldogs' lead didn't last long, as the visitors promptly answered by sending 13 batters to the plate during a nine-run fourth inning off Holmes starting pitcher Meghan Cumming.  EMCC had nine singles during the big inning, including two hits each by Kaitlyn Brannon and Wilkinson, who finished the opener 3-for-4 at the plate and 5-for-8 on the afternoon.

Jacques, a sophomore left-hander from Rayne, Louisiana, picked up her first collegiate win by pitching into the fourth inning for the Lions.  She was relieved by right-hander Jordan Self, who pitched the final 3.1 innings to close out the opening game.  Holmes put up three runs in the bottom of the seventh to account for the 10-6 outcome.

Riding a current six-game winning streak, Coach Kyndall White's EMCC Lions improved to 7-12 overall on the year, including a 4-0 start in MACJC play with doubleheader sweeps over Holmes and Mississippi Delta.  East Mississippi continues conference action by traveling to Wesson for a Friday twin bill at Copiah-Lincoln before returning home to play host to Southwest Mississippi in a Sunday doubleheader on the Scooba campus.  First pitch at the EMCC Softball Field is set for 3 p.m.