No. 14 East Mississippi splits at Northeast to set up Saturday's Scooba showdown against No. 1 Hinds
The 14th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College earned their third consecutive MACJC baseball doubleheader split with a 5-4 win in Wednesday's first game at Northeast Mississippi Community College.
BOONEVILLE – The 14th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College earned their third consecutive MACJC baseball doubleheader split with a 5-4 win in Wednesday's first game at Northeast Mississippi Community College. The home-standing Tigers gained the split with an 8-4 nightcap victory over EMCC.
Coach Chris Rose's EMCC Lions, 19-9 overall and currently in second place in the MACJC standings with a 13-3 league mark, will next play host to top-ranked and league-leading Hinds Community College (27-2, 14-2) Saturday afternoon on the Scooba campus. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field.
Against Northeast, the visiting Lions gained the initial advantage in the scheduled nine-inning opening game by plating a pair of runs in the fourth inning and adding another score in the sixth on Emil Ellis' RBI single.
After pitching five shutout innings, EMCC starting pitcher Andrew Crane was chased in the sixth after surrendering a lead-off triple to Colby Williams followed by Trent Turner's run-scoring double and a walk to Jack Hurdle. Middle reliever Ryder Davis was then greeted with an RBI double by Hunter Hudson and Ben Foster's two-run single to put the Tigers on top, 4-3, before he was able to get out of the inning by inducing a double play and another groundout.
JoVaughn McNabb's lead-off triple ignited EMCC's eighth inning. After Dylan Vuncannon knocked in McNabb, courtesy runner Lowell Haney scored the game-deciding run on Taylor Stafford's two-out single.
In relief of winning pitcher Layton Dill, freshman closer Ryan Rigby retired all six batters he faced over the final two frames to record his fourth save of the season for the Lions. In the no-decision, Crane allowed three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks while pitching into the sixth.
Offensively for EMCC in the opening contest, Tupelo's Vuncannon led the way with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate. McNabb and Ellis followed with two hits apiece.
The visitors grabbed the early advantage in the nightcap as well. Following McNabb's lead-off single in the first, Ellis and Chris McCullough later stroked back-to-back, two-out doubles to give the Lions a 2-0 lead.
That advantage was doubled when David Pimentel's lead-off home run in the third – his team-leading sixth long ball of the year – and Vuncannon's run-producing grounder an inning later staked EMCC starting pitcher Zach Irwin to a 4-0 lead.
But, that was all the offense East Mississippi was able to muster off Northeast starter Taylor Bobo and reliever Colby Whitfield. Meanwhile, the Tigers pushed across their first three runs in the fourth with the aid of an outfield error. Northeast went ahead, 7-4, the next frame on Turner's two-run homer that came on the heels of Williams' two-run single. The home team picked up an insurance run in the sixth for the final margin.
With EMCC out-hitting the Tigers, 12-8, in the second game, McNabb capped his 5-for-9 afternoon at the plate with three hits in the nightcap. McCullough and Kyle Liberto added two hits each for EMCC.
Irwin, now 2-2 on the year after taking the loss for the Lions, allowed all eight runs on seven hits while pitching into the sixth with seven strikeouts and no walks.