EMCC Lions split baseball doubleheader at Wallace CC Selma with 2-1 win followed by 3-1 setback
The visiting Lions of East Mississippi Community College split a pair of low-scoring baseball contests Saturday afternoon against Wallace Community College Selma, claiming a 2-1 win in the opener before falling 3-1 in the nightcap at Bloch Park.
SELMA, Ala. – The visiting Lions of East Mississippi Community College split a pair of low-scoring baseball contests Saturday afternoon against Wallace Community College Selma, claiming a 2-1 win in the opener before falling 3-1 in the nightcap at Bloch Park.
The Lions struggled offensively on the day with a total of only six hits – four in the opener and just two hits in the second game. Three of those hits were by freshman outfielder Colton Caver in the victory. The former Gulfport High School product had an RBI double in the third and a run-scoring single in the fifth to go along with an additional two-base hit in the first inning of the opener. His fifth-inning RBI provided the winning margin after WCCS's Brent McFarland reached EMCC starter Austin Braddock for a solo home run to knot the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Braddock, out of Columbus' Heritage Academy, went 4.2 innings allowing just the one run on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Freshman right-hander Brock McKnight was solid in relief for the Lions, finishing the final 2.1 innings and giving up just one hit en route to recording his second save. The Kosciusko native is also 2-0 out of the bullpen on the young season.
The Lions' bats were virtually silenced in the nightcap, as WCCS starter Jordon Welch only allowed second-inning singles to sophomores Jason Yarbor and Jake Upton. EMCC actually loaded the bases in the second, but Philip Tice lined out to second base to end the threat. The Lions also left two runners stranded in the third.
Redshirt freshman KC Abney started on the mound for the Lions in the second game but couldn't make it out of the second inning. The Memphis native surrendered a pair of runs in the opening frame and another tally in the second before giving way to sophomore Tyler Jones.
Jones, a sophomore right-hander out of Columbus' Victory Christian Academy, pitched admirably in relief by limiting WCCS to just a pair of hits and striking out three over the final 4.1 innings of work.
EMCC's lone score in the nightcap came in the seventh and final inning when Tice's run-producing ground out followed walks to Drew Standland and Chase Reeves.
Coach Chris Rose's 4-2 EMCC Lions are scheduled to play a rematch doubleheader at Bishop State Community College beginning at noon Sunday afternoon in Mobile, Ala. Last Sunday at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, EMCC swept Bishop State, 7-4 and 4-3, to open the season.