EMCC Lions set for home baseball opener; Rematch with Snead State postponed to Sunday

ALBERTVILLE, Ala. – The Lions of East Mississippi Community College opened the 2023 baseball season in impressive fashion by sweeping preseason 20^th-ranked Snead State Community College with a dramatic 11-9 comeback win in 10 innings followed by a 6-4 nightcap victory during Thursday doubleheader action played at Sand Mountain Park.

EMCC now turns its attention to welcoming the same Snead State ball club to the Scooba campus for the Lions' much-anticipated home season opener against the reigning Alabama Community College Conference champions and 2022 NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series participants. Due to forecasted rain for the area on Saturday, the Lions' scheduled home-opening baseball action has been postponed a day to Sunday. First pitch for Sunday's EMCC-Snead State doubleheader rematch is set for noon at refurbished Gerald Poole Field. EMCC's improved home baseball facility now showcases artificial turf throughout the playing field as well as featuring newly renovated batting cages and a recently added locker room.

Head coach Brett Kimbrel's EMCC Lions enter Sunday's rescheduled home opener on an emotional high after coming back from a 9-2 deficit to score seven runs in the seventh frame of the scheduled seven-inning game against Snead State during Thursday's season opener in Albertville, Alabama. Following the 11-9 victory in 10 innings over the Parsons, EMCC maintained the momentum by holding on for a 6-4 nightcap win over SSCC to complete the noteworthy sweep.

Having trailed in their season opener, 9-2, after Snead State scored in each of the first four innings, the Lions batted around in the seventh and scored six of their seven runs in the frame via the long ball. Following Jon Paul Yates' run-scoring double, Evan Radford began his hot day at the plate with a two-run homer to further cut into the deficit. Joe Scarborough, Gates Gerhart and Aiden Fancher then set the table in front of pinch-hitter Zack Griffith's two-out, game-tying grand slam.

After two scoreless extra innings, EMCC rewarded Ben Riley Flowers' three innings of superb relief work by plating the go-ahead runs in the top of the 10^th inning on Gerhart's two-run single. Flowers, a left-handed transfer from Central Alabama Community College, finished off his sparkling EMCC pitching debut by getting two more strikeouts in the bottom half of the final frame after fanning the side in the ninth. The Saraland, Alabama product finished with six strikeouts and only allowed one hit to pick up the victory.

Offensively for the Lions in their season-opening twin bill against Snead State, Radford, a Southern Miss transfer by way of Hoover, Alabama, combined for a 6-for-10 afternoon at the plate with a homer and three RBIs during each game.

Returning sophomore second baseman Coby Holmes had two hits in each game as part of his 4-for-6 hitting effort on the day. The Saraland, Alabama native also scored three runs and walked three times during the doubleheader.

Riding the momentum of the thrilling opening-game comeback, the Lions struck first in the nightcap on Radford's three-run blast in the top of the opening frame with Holmes and leadoff batter Ethan Medlin on board. The Parsons answered by trimming EMCC's early lead with solo runs in the first and third innings off starting pitcher Drake Bayles.

The Lions were able to get those pair of important runs back with solo scores in the fifth and sixth frames. Those runs proved valuable when Snead State rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning. Following a two-run triple by Chris Calma to cut the four-run deficit in half, EMCC freshman right-hander Cooper Garrison came out of the bullpen to record a strikeout and a ground out to secure the save in his college debut.

Bayles, out of Copiah Academy, picked up the victory in the nightcap by striking out six and scattering five hits over three innings for the Lions.

After getting 13 hits as a team in the opener, the Lions added eight more hits in the second game.