EMCC Lions improve to 6-4 in MACCC play with 3-2, 5-3 softball sweep at Meridian

MERIDIAN – The Lions of East Mississippi Community College posted their third MACCC softball doubleheader sweep of the season by knocking off home-standing Meridian, 3-2 and 5-3, during Friday's conference action played at the Sammie Davidson Complex.

With the games having been moved up a day due to Friday night's weather forecast, the Lions had to come back from an early 2-0 deficit in the opener. Meridian's two-run advantage came as a result of Lynnzie Kennedy's two-out RBI double in the first inning followed by Mattie Granberry's leadoff homer two frames later off EMCC starting pitcher Laken Firth.

Taking advantage of a handful of Meridian fielding errors in the game, the Lions were able to plate three unearned runs during the fourth and fifth innings to take the lead. Devyn DeBardelaben led off the fourth by getting hit by a pitch and then later came around to score EMCC's first run. The next frame, Brooke Knoop and Sidney Argo started the fifth inning with consecutive singles and later scored on a two-out fielding error.

Firth allowed only two hits over the final four scoreless innings to secure the complete-game victory and improve to 5-10 on the season.

During the nightcap, a pair of fielding miscues by EMCC in the second inning enabled the Eagles to take a 3-1 lead after the Lions scored the game's first run on DeBardelaben's run-scoring groundout that scored Argo.

The Lions received some two-out heroics in the fifth inning after loading the bases off Meridian starting pitcher Sara Gaylord. After Carley Martin singled, Magen Caro walked and DeBardelaben earned her third hit batsman of the day, Lana Atkins and Celeste Study both followed with clutch two-run hits to put EMCC on top, 5-3.

Study, making just her second start in the circle on the year, held Meridian scoreless over the final five frames to pick up her first win of the season and third of her EMCC career.

Offensively, EMCC had five hits in each contest. Recently back in the Lions' starting lineup following an early-season injury, second baseman Carley Martin, out of Columbus' Heritage Academy, had a pair of singles in each game to lead the way during the doubleheader sweep.

Coach Mackenzie Byrd's EMCC Lions, now 6-4 in conference play and 9-21 overall on the year, are scheduled to play home doubleheaders this coming week against Coahoma and Mississippi Gulf Coast on Wednesday (2 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.), respectively, at the EMCC Softball Field on the Scooba campus.