Bayles’ three-hit shutout lifts EMCC baseball to conference-opening split with Hinds

SCOOBA – Drake Bayles' three-hit, complete-game shutout lifted East Mississippi Community College to a conference-opening baseball doubleheader split with visiting Hinds during Saturday's MACCC action played at Gerald Poole Field. The Lions' 8-0 nightcap victory followed the Eagles' 8-2 win in the opening contest.

Rebounding from their opening-game setback, the Lions staked Bayles to an early 5-0 lead after the first three frames of the seven-inning nightcap. After batting through the lineup to produce three first-inning runs, EMCC added solo tallies during each of the next two frames on Gates Gerhart's run-scoring single in the second followed by Jon Paul Yates' two-out homer – his third of the year – in the third inning.

As Bayles was sailing along on the mound by facing just five batters over the minimum and allowing only two runners to reach scoring position in the contest, the Lions added three insurance runs in the sixth inning to account for the final margin.

A sophomore right-hander out of Copiah Academy, Bayles struck out six and didn't allow a walk, while scattering three singles over seven innings, to improve to 3-1 with his second complete-game shutout of the season. He threw 65 strikes during his masterful 92-pitch performance.

Evan Radford and Aiden Fancher paced EMCC's nine-hit team effort in the nightcap with 2-for-3 outings at the plate. Radford stroked a pair of leadoff doubles and scored three runs, while Fancher had two RBIs with a double, a single, and a walk.

In the nine-inning contest to begin the day's action, the Lions couldn't take advantage of a solid mound effort by EMCC starting pitcher Cooper Garrison, who was saddled with four unearned runs in the second inning. In that frame, Hinds' Zan Ellis hit a ball up the middle with one out and a runner on first for a potential inning-ending double play. The ball was mishandled near the second base bag, however, opening the door for a two-run single by Ashton Johnson and a two-out, two-run double by Thomas Marsala.

Forced to play catch-up the rest of the game, the Lions did manage to push across solo runs in the fourth and seventh innings on Fancher's run-producing groundout and Ayden Alsobrooks' two-out RBI single, respectively.

The Eagles then used the long ball during the late innings to secure their conference-opening victory. On the heels of Marsala's solo homer in the seventh inning, Cameron Hill's two-out, three-run blast a frame later accounted for the final margin.

Joe Scarborough led EMCC's nine-hit team outing in the opening contest with a fourth-inning double and a sixth-inning single. Garrison scattered six hits and struck out five with three walks over 6.1 innings of work before giving way to the Lions' bullpen.

Head coach Brett Kimbrel's 15-8 EMCC Lions are scheduled to conclude their week-long baseball home stand by playing host to the Trojans of Mississippi Delta Community College on Wednesday (March 13). First pitch for Wednesday's EMCC-MDCC doubleheader is slated for 2 p.m. on the Scooba campus.