EMCC’s Evan Radford chosen MACCC Baseball Position Player of the Week
East Mississippi Community College’s Evan Radford has been selected as the MACCC Baseball Position Player of the Week for his four-game power surge a week ago against Snead State. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.
JACKSON – East Mississippi Community College's Evan Radford has been selected as the MACCC Baseball Position Player of the Week for his four-game power surge a week ago against Snead State. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.
A 2023 selection to the All-MACCC Second Team, Radford smacked four home runs during a pair of home doubleheader splits with Snead State this past week to raise his NJCAA Division II-leading total to five homers on the young season. The Southern Miss bounceback also had seven runs batted in and four runs scored while going 6-for-14 (.429) at the plate during the four-game series against the Parsons. After hitting a two-run home run to help spark a seven-run sixth inning in EMCC's 9-7 come-from-behind win in Thursday's series opener, Radford followed up the next day to hit two homers in Friday's first game before adding a first-inning solo shot - his third homer of the day - during the Lions' 2-1 extra-inning nightcap victory in the series finale.
In eight games this season, Radford is batting .450 (9-for-20) with a team-leading 13 RBIs to go along with his five home runs to give him 17 career homers as an EMCC Lion. The sophomore designated hitter/first baseman is also currently tied for the team lead with 12 runs scored and five stolen bases. Radford also owns a 1.200 slugging percentage and .607 on-base percentage for the year.
A year ago, Radford topped the 2023 EMCC Lions in several offensive categories, including home runs (12), RBIs (40) and runs scored (36). The Hoover, Alabama native batted .310 on the season in helping lead the 24-26 Lions to their second straight postseason playoff appearance. Radford also tied for the club lead with 11 doubles as part of his team-most 24 extra-base hits and 88 total bases. With a club-best .698 slugging percentage for the year, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound slugger enjoyed a four-game stretch last March when he hit a home run in four straight games during consecutive home doubleheaders against Jones and Holmes.
Head coach Brett Kimbrel's 6-2 EMCC Lions are slated to take on Marion Military Institute during home-and-home noon doubleheaders on consecutive days this week. After EMCC travels to Marion, Alabama on Thursday (Feb. 15), MMI will now make the trip to Scooba the next day for a Friday twin-bill that has been moved up a day because of Saturday's weather forecast of colder temperatures.