EMCC Lions hold their own on the road before falling to No. 4 Northwest in softball action

SENATOBIA – The visiting Lions of East Mississippi Community College held their own against fourth-ranked Northwest Mississippi before falling, 3-0 and 6-1, during Tuesday's MACCC softball doubleheader action played at the Ranger Softball Field.

In both contests against Northwest, which has been ranked among the nation's top-five NJCAA Division II teams all season and rated as high as second, the Lions played the Rangers to within a run through the first four innings.

The opening game remained scoreless through the first three innings until Northwest reached EMCC starting pitcher Laken Firth for solo runs during each of the next three frames. The leadoff batter for Northwest during each of those three innings reached base and later came around to score.  

Meanwhile, the Lions had their chances against unbeaten Northwest starting pitcher Gabby Dickerson. Ki'arah Byrd and Carley Martin led off the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, with doubles, but they were both left stranded on the bases. In addition, EMCC's Sidney Argo had two-out singles in the third and fifth innings, but the Shelton State transfer was left in scoring position both times after stealing second base.

Firth was the hard-luck loser for the Lions in the opening game after scattering seven hits, with three strikeouts and three walks, over six innings of work.

In the nightcap, the visitors staked EMCC starting pitcher Carys Goodwin to a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Madalyn Dvorak reached base on a leadoff walk before being bunted over by Argo and then scoring on Lana Atkins' two-out RBI single.

That was all the offense the Lions were able to muster on the afternoon, however, as Kylee Brown limited EMCC to just four hits in the nightcap. Argo added another single with a subsequent stolen base, while Celeste Study had a double and a single in the second game to give her three total hits on the day.

In the circle for the Lions, Goodwin worked out of back-to-back, bases-loaded jams in the third and fourth innings before the Rangers scored four runs in the fifth and two more a frame later to account for the 6-1 final.

Head coach Mackenzie Byrd's EMCC Lions (11-31, 8-14 MACCC) continue their challenging late-season stretch against ranked conference opponents by playing host to ninth-ranked Copiah-Lincoln in a 1 p.m. Saturday (April 22) doubleheader on the Scooba campus. Prior to Saturday's first game against Co-Lin, East Mississippi is set to recognize six sophomores – Sidney Argo, Ki'arah Byrd, Magen Caro, Laken Firth, Carley Martin, and Celeste Study.