EMCC Lady Lions improve to 5-1 in conference play with 10-1, 12-2 run-rule wins at Coahoma

CLARKSDALE – East Mississippi Community College's softball team improved to 5-1 in conference play with a pair of run-rule road wins, 10-1 and 12-2, over Coahoma Community College during Tuesday's MACJC action played at the Eddie C. Smith Sportsplex.

In nearly identical scenarios, the Lady Lions broke open close contests by putting together productive fifth innings to seal both victories in run-rule fashion.  EMCC freshman right-hander Bryley Rodriguez threw eight of the 10 innings on the day, including a complete game in the nightcap, to pick up both wins and improve to 5-6 on the season.

In the opening game, back-to-back RBI doubles by Camryn Williams and Carly Thompson gave the visitors a 2-1 lead after the first inning.  After plating three runs in the fourth on a pair of hits and three walks, EMCC reached the run-rule margin the following frame by batting around to produce five more runs.  Williams and Thompson highlighted the fifth inning with consecutive doubles for the second time in the game.

After starting pitcher AG Stewart struggled somewhat with first-inning control problems, Rodriguez held Coahoma hitless for the next three innings with five strikeouts.        

Williams, a freshman first baseman from White Hall, Arkansas, began her successful day at the plate with three doubles to pace EMCC's eight-hit team effort in the first contest.  Thompson, out of Germantown High School, knocked in three runs with her pair of doubles.

Similar to the first game, the Lady Lions held a slim 3-1 lead through the first three innings of the nightcap.  Again, a three-run fourth inning, highlighted by Mollie Singleterry's two-run double, preceded a big fifth inning for the visitors.  Thompson's leadoff solo home run – her first collegiate homer – ignited a six-run fifth inning that was capped by Williams' bases-clearing triple.

Singleterry and Kelsey English had three hits apiece to lead EMCC's 11-hit nightcap outing.  Williams, who officially went 5-for-6 on the day at the plate, drove in five runs during the second game with her three-run triple to go along with another RBI double and a sacrifice fly.

Rodriguez, from Cankton, Louisiana, scattered four hits over five innings with five strikeouts and three walks during her complete-game victory.

Coach Kyndall White's 9-11 EMCC Lady Lions continue MACJC action by playing host to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in a 2 p.m. Friday doubleheader on the Scooba campus.