Combined three-hit shutout in nightcap lifts EMCC Lions to home baseball split with 11th-ranked Jones County
A combined three-hit shutout pitching performance lifted the East Mississippi Community College baseball team to an 8-0 nightcap victory and a home doubleheader split with 11th-ranked Jones County Junior College Tuesday afternoon at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field.
SCOOBA – A combined three-hit shutout pitching performance lifted the East Mississippi Community College baseball team to an 8-0 nightcap victory and a home doubleheader split with 11th-ranked Jones County Junior College Tuesday afternoon at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field. The visiting Bobcats held on for a 4-2 win over the Lions in the nine-inning opener that featured a classic pitching duel.
In game two, EMCC freshman right-hander JC Redden allowed just two hits over five innings before giving way to the Kosciusko tandem of Ryan Rigby and Ryder Davis in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. Redden, a product of New Hope's back-to-back Class 5A state championship teams, struck out three and walked four to even his record to 1-1 on the year.
Offensively in their home season opener, the Lions did all of their damage in two innings with a three-run third and a five-run sixth. In the third, run-scoring doubles by JoVaughn McNabb and Andrew Crane were aided by a passed ball that scored slugger David Pimentel to make it a 3-0 contest.
EMCC added plenty of insurance in the sixth with Pimentel's three-run blast to center field – his third home run of the young season – following McNabb's RBI single and a wild pitch that plated Corley Reynolds. McNabb, a freshman outfielder from Hattiesburg, was 5-for-8 at the plate on the afternoon, including a 3-for-4 outing in game two, to pace the Lions.
With a pair of standout southpaws on display in the opener, JCJC's Will Hazen and EMCC's Zach Irwin dueled to a 1-0 contest through six innings. The Bobcats staked Hazen to the 1-0 advantage when Chris Morgan doubled to lead off the third inning, then stole third and came around to score on Chase Hensley's two-out RBI single.
Hazen tossed six innings of four-hit baseball with seven strikeouts and no walks before giving way to the JCJC bullpen. EMCC's Irwin threw 110 pitches during seven innings of work, allowing five hits and two runs, before exiting the contest. A former Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen selection, Irwin struck out seven and walked five in his collegiate debut.
The Bobcats tacked on solo runs in each of the final three frames of the scheduled nine-inning contest to take a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Things became interesting for the home team when Pimentel and Chris McCullough both walked. Later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Pimentel scored when Drew Standland's third strike was dropped. A subsequent ground ball single to short by Dylan Vuncannon scored New Hope product Taylor Stafford and kept the bases loaded. The improbable EMCC comeback was denied when JCJC reliever Will Brand struck out McNabb to end the contest.
McNabb, Stafford and Vuncannon all had two hits apiece to lead the Lions in the nightcap.
Coach Chris Rose's 3-3 EMCC Lions, after sweeping preseason eighth-ranked and NJCAA Division I member Georgia Perimeter College last weekend during tournament play in Niceville, Fla., will next participate in the prestigious Flag City Classic Friday afternoon in Millington, Tenn. To be played at USA Stadium, East Mississippi is set to take on Southwestern Illinois College at noon followed by a 2:30 p.m. contest against Dyersburg State (Tenn.) CC.