EMCC Lions drop well-pitched baseball twin bill at Northeast Mississippi
In a pair of well-pitched contests where runs were at a premium, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College dropped a road doubleheader, 4-1 and 2-1, to the home-standing Northeast Mississippi Tigers during Wednesday’s MACCC baseball action played at the Northeast Baseball Complex.
BOONEVILLE — In a pair of well-pitched contests where runs were at a premium, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College dropped a road doubleheader, 4-1 and 2-1, to the home-standing Northeast Mississippi Tigers during Wednesday's MACCC baseball action played at the Northeast Baseball Complex.
Northeast grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the opener with first-inning RBI singles by Shawn Dalton Weatherbee and Jackson McCoy off EMCC starting pitcher Blake Wren.
The Lions got on the board two frames later when Zack Griffith's solo homer – his first of the season and third of his EMCC career – off Northeast starter Davis Oswalt cut the lead in half.
The score stayed at 2-1 until the Tigers plated a pair of insurance runs in the sixth off EMCC's Dakota Boney. Weatherbee's sacrifice fly was followed by Logan Bland's run-scoring ground out.
That was all the run support Oswalt would need on the mound for the Tigers. The right-hander scattered six hits over 8 2/3 innings before giving way to closer Hayden Donahue for the final out.
Despite leaving 13 batters on base in game one, Northeast benefitted defensively by turning three infield double plays and playing errorless baseball.
Beau Bates was EMCC's lone player with multiple hits in the opening game on singles in his first two at-bats.
The seven-inning nightcap featured another classic pitching duel with only six total hits between the two teams.
The Lions opened the scoring in game two on Trey Trosclair's leadoff home run in the third inning – his fourth of the year and sixth of his EMCC career – off Northeast starting pitcher Jackson Conn.
The Tigers answered an inning later off EMCC starting pitcher Blayze Berry when triples by Khi Holiday and Bland helped produce the game-deciding runs.
EMCC outhit Northeast, 4-2, in the nightcap and put runners in scoring position during each of the last three innings, but Conn and Donahue combined to keep the Lions from crossing the plate again.
Berry, out of Columbus' Heritage Academy, was the tough-luck loser for the Lions, giving up just the two hits and a hit-by-pitch in the fourth inning. The UAB signee also had four strikeouts and did not allow a walk during the complete-game pitching effort.
Griffith had a pair of singles and a walk in the second game on the heels of his opening-game home run for the visitors.
Coach Brett Kimbrel's EMCC Lions, 15-12 overall and 10-4 in MACCC play after dropping their first conference twin bill of the season, are scheduled for home doubleheaders against Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday (April 9) and Coahoma the following Tuesday (April 12). First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. on both upcoming dates at Gerald Poole Field on the Scooba campus.