Nightcap win earns EMCC Lions baseball doubleheader split at Gulf Coast

PERKINSTON – Bouncing back from a heartbreaking 8-7 opening-game loss, the visiting Lions of East Mississippi Community College earned a baseball doubleheader split with a 6-2 nightcap win against Mississippi Gulf Coast during Saturday's MACCC action played at Ken "Curly" Farris Field.

EMCC overcame a 6-1 deficit in the opener with a six-run eighth inning only to fall in walk-off fashion to the Bulldogs on a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. The Lions regrouped to break a 2-2 tie with a four-run sixth inning in the nightcap to collect the road split.

The opening game saw the home-standing Bulldogs score the game's first four runs before the visitors got on the scoreboard in the seventh inning. Gulf Coast reached EMCC starting pitcher Brandon King for two runs in the first inning and then added solo tallies in the third and sixth innings to take a 4-0 lead.

After the Lions managed to finally get to MGCCC starter Blake King by producing an unearned run on Austin Garrison's two-out RBI single in the seventh, the Bulldogs answered with two runs in the home half of the inning to pull ahead by five runs (6-1) late in the contest.

Aided by three walks in the top of the eighth inning, the Lions batted through the lineup to plate six runs and grab their first lead of the game in dramatic style. Following Ethan Medlin's run-scoring single, Gray Berry walked with two outs to load the bases. Carson Gault then smacked a two-run single to set the stage for Garrison's go-ahead, three-run homer off Gulf Coast reliever Nate Anderson.

After EMCC reliever Joe Scarborough retired the Bulldogs in order in the eighth, Gulf Coast slugger Charlie Keller slammed his NJCAA Division II-leading 16^th home run of the year with Sean Smith on board to give MGCCC the dramatic walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth inning.

For EMCC offensively in the opener, Garrison accounted for half of the Lions' six hits with his 3-for-4 outing at the plate that produced four runs. The Gulfport product also had a double in the contest to go along with his RBI single and three-run homer.

The seven-inning nightcap was a one-run game through the first five innings. Will Crawford's run-scoring single off Gulf Coast starting pitcher Levi Odom in the first frame was the game's only scoring until Jayden Mark and Ty Mancha reached EMCC starter Drake Bayles for consecutive two-out RBI singles to put the Bulldogs on top, 2-1, in the fourth inning.

After the Lions answered by pulling even with an unearned run on Medlin's RBI single in the fifth, the visitors went ahead for good a frame later with a four-run sixth inning. Garrison capped his four-hit, six-RBI afternoon with a two-run double. Crawford's run-scoring groundout and another RBI single by Medlin would then provide all the run support needed for reliever Cooper Garrison.

Garrison, Austin's younger brother out of Gulfport High School, was dominant in relief for the Lions. After inheriting a runner in the fifth inning, he retired nine of the 10 batters he faced without giving up a hit over three scoreless innings to improve his record to 3-2 on the year.

Crawford and Medlin paced EMCC's nine-hit team effort with two hits apiece in the nightcap.

Head coach Brett Kimbrel's EMCC Lions (17-17, 5-9 MACCC) return home for the coming week by playing host to Northeast Mississippi on Tuesday (April 4) and third-ranked Pearl River on Friday (April 7). Both MACCC baseball doubleheaders on the Scooba campus are scheduled for 2 p.m. starts at EMCC's Gerald Poole Field.